malaria and the wet season

By Helena Selby

Diseases in a country is one of the major constrain to the progress of the economy of the country as the labour force who are the stronghold of the development of the eonomy are the most vulnerable when epidemic strikes. The existence of the diseases goes to the extent of not crippling the labour force of the nation but the future leaders of the nation as well. In Ghana epidemics are normally under control as it is rare case to hear of an epidemic strike in the country, however government in order to make the economy of the nation develop by giving good health to labour force spend lot of money in the prevention of diseases such as malaria. Malaria is one of the commonest diseases in sub-Saharan Africa which Ghana is included.

There is no one in Ghana which not for once or twice has not been infected by malaria before in Ghana as mosquitoes can be found almost in every corner of the country. Its prevalence according to research can be attributed to the whether conditions of the country and the extent t which the people are able to keep their surrounding clean. Even though the infection of malaria is prevalence during all the seasons of the years, it must be noted that its rate of infection increases during the rainy season as mosquitoes which are the main cause of malaria breed more during the rainy season.

As Ghana is already a zone for malaria infection and is now in its rainy season, the country if care is not taken will have an increase in malaria cases which will be a big blow in the health and economic sector of the country. If care is not taken by the people and by the government during this period of the season, the fight against the eradication of malaria will be of no use as government needs to go back to refund its eradication. What are the plans of the people and the government towards this rainy season of malaria increase as everyone is at risk.

Malaria is Ghana

Education on the eradication of malaria has been very useful as the people are being cautious of their way of lives in terms of the prevention of the disease. There has been many ways and means by the people n the government to eradicate malaria from homes and the country as a whole. It is very sad to note that people strive in their effort to do so it is very impossible for them to come into contact with mosquito bites as it can be found all in places unexpected in the country. It has always been the habit of cautious Ghanaians to sleep in mosquito nets to prevent the bite of mosquitoes in the during the night and some aa well make it a point to undergo malaria treatment every now and then just to prevent them from lying on a sick bed and leaving their business idle with no one to take care of it. However despite their effort in the prevention of malaria, the disease at the long run ends up infecting then unexpectedly.

It is very surprising to note that as people try their best to prevent the bite of mosquitoes in their virus homes, they end up being bitten when they go out of the various homes making their prevention course almost a waste. According to one Margareta nsia a student in one of the universities of the countries, as she tries her best to prevent mosquito bites in her home by cleaning up and keeping sleeping in a mosquito net, she end up being bitten by a mosquito when she boards a bus which is popularly known as “trotro” in town. She said many buses in Ghana are the breeding places of mosquitoes, drivers of such buses refuse to clean up their buses at the end of the day but leave it for mosquitoes to breed in them. Regardless of its implication to themselves and the passengers they use it the next day and passengers turn to become the feasting place of these mosquitoes. Individuals in the bus at the end of the day go home with the malaria parasite.

Malaria n the rainy the rainy or wet season in Ghana

Malaria though considered as not dreadful as HIV/AIDS is one of the diseases sweeping way many lives in the country today. In the rainy season the number of mosquitoes increases as they turn to breed more due to the nature of the environment. The nation has always been in bad share in terms of good drainage systems, many parts of the country including the capital lack good drainage system which as a result make way for stagnant waters in many parts of the country. The existence of stagnant waters during the rainy season increases the prevalence of malaria in various home especially those who sleep without mosquito net. Apart from the poor drainage system, the poor hygienic condition observed by people is also a factor.

In one environment where there are no stagnant waters instead of the people making it a point to cultivate the habit of cleanliness they end up keeping their environment dirty by improperly disposing used canned products. Instead of disposing well canned product like tomatoes, milk and fish which are commonly used, they end up littering them on the environment. As result when it rains, the collects into it’s and begins to breed mosquitoes ending up biting them at night. Sometimes too people who have gutters in their vicinity refuse to keep them clean but always wait for government organizations and NGO’ to do the cleaning for them. Some go to the extent of dumping their rubbish in the various gutters which when it does not rain heavy enough to push them away, it collects into a stagnant water and begins to breed mosquitoes.

Malaria in Ghana

Government spends a lot of funds on the eradication of malaria; however its target has still not been reached. A malaria prevalence survey was carried out in young children in northern Ghana, in an area with continuous mortality and morbidity surveillance. There was marked seasonal variation in malaria deaths, reported fevers, parasite rates and mean parasite densities, with parasite rates reaching 85–94% in the wet season. The monthly numbers of malaria deaths were highly correlated with rainfall in the previous 2 months. According to research in the south, the Malaria Index (MI) is 1.6% in urban areas and 22% in rural ones. In the north, the MI for children to be generally 85% but as high as 94% during the rainy season. It has been observed that the MI varies between 22% in May, when transmission is low, and 61% in November, a season of high transmission.

According to Mr. Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director of the Voices for Malaria Free Future, Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Ghana would be unable to achieve the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) target of reducing the disease morbidity and mortality by 50 per cent in 2010. He said malaria still accounted for 19 per cent of deaths of all ages with 22 per cent of the mortality rate among children under five. Ghana adopted the World Health Organisation’s RBM strategy in 2000, and was expected to have reduced malaria deaths to at least 7.5 per cent in all ages and 11 per cent in children under five. Ghana’s malaria morbidity ratio stood at 120 per 1,000 cases for all ages instead of meeting the target of 86 per 1,000. Malaria was also responsible for 35 per cent of morbidity in children under five, which fell short of the RBM target of 23 per cent.

Government’s efforts in malaria eradication

Research indicates that, the government of Ghana has not been reluctant in the fight against the eradication f malaria In April 2004, Ghana modified its national policy regarding the use of antimalarial drugs: chloroquine has

been replaced as a first-line treatment by amodiaquine-artesunate. Parenteral quinine has been kept for the treatment of acute malaria, and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is prescribed as an intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women.

These recommendations are targeted both at the family and institutional level.

Conclusion

The race for the eradication of malaria is the responsibility of the whole nation; it will therefore be a wise thing if everyone plays the role expected of them help fight against this disease. By so doing the fund generated to the treatment and eradication of this disease will be channeled to another venture for the betterment of the whole nation.