Accra, May 31 (IANS/MAP) Ghana's First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has launched the "Reducing Malaria and Malnutrition in Priority Populations" (ReMMap) initiative to address the menace in the country.
"The launch of the initiative set the stage for the mobilisation of the needed resources and partnerships to build a healthy Ghana, where children would be adequately nourished" Akufo-Addo said.
Launching the drive, Akufo-Addo said malaria and malnutrition were two of the critical conditions that have had a negative influence on "our vulnerable population for years", according to the report on Tuesday.
She said that these conditions led to the "untimely death of children, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups.
Calling these conditions preventable, the First Lady said: "It is not acceptable that in this day and age, Ghana should lose any child or pregnant woman to malaria or under-nutrition."
She said that despite significant gains made in the control of malaria in recent times, the burden malaria and malnutrition placed on the national economy was still enormous.
Akufo-Addo said the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) concept would be a key in addressing malnutrition and malaria since it had the ability to reach many malnourished children through household follow ups and coordination with community health volunteers.
She urged all stakeholders to commit to scale-up effective malaria prevention activities, treatment interventions, invest in breastfeeding and child nutrition.
The First Lady also called on the private sector to partner the government to produce more food supply, insecticide treated bed nets and "to help beat both malaria and malnutrition."
--IANS
soni/bg
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
