Malaria is scarier than witches – Apostle Onyinah | Social

World Malaria Day (WMD) 2021 was celebrated in Accra with a call to the public to fear malaria more than witches.

Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, who made the appeal, said malaria is a deadly disease and the public should do everything possible to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

He was speaking at a brief event organized by the National Malaria Control Program to mark ADM at the Odorkor Pentecost International Worship Center on Sunday.

The apostle Professor Onyinah said malaria prevention requires everyone to sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and make sure to keep their surroundings clean.

He also advised the public to avoid taking their antimalarial drugs in pairs, saying, “Once you are diagnosed with malaria you need to make sure you take full doses of the antimalarial drugs you are given to keep you safe. recover completely. “

Dr Keziah Malm, program director, National Malaria Control Program, said Ghana has made great strides in the fight against malaria, but unfortunately people are still sick with malaria.

“In 2020 alone, Ghana recorded around 5 million confirmed malaria cases with over 10 million suspected cases … so we need to strive for excellence in the fight against malaria, we should stop thinking that malaria is an old normal disease, ”she said.

She said this year’s ADM theme, “Zero Malaria Starts With Me; Draw the Line Against Malaria, ”asked everyone to make a personal commitment to do things that would eliminate the malaria parasite from Ghana.
Dr Malm said the PNLP will distribute ITNs to households in all parts of the country this year.

She stressed the need for everyone to sleep under ITNs or use residual sprays indoors and get rid of stagnant water that served as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“Female anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria from person to person like to breed in fairly clean water,” she said.

World Malaria Day is celebrated on April 25 each year to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and disease control.

The day also highlights successes in the fight against malaria and individual responsibilities to end malaria and ensure a malaria-free world.

Malaria is a potentially fatal mosquito-borne blood disease caused by a plasmodium parasite and is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito, which sees the parasite multiply in the host’s liver before infecting and destroy the red blood cell.

Symptoms of malaria include; fever and chills, colds with chills, headache, disturbance of consciousness, prostration or lying down, multiple convulsions, deep breathing, respiratory distress and abnormal bleeding.