As part of its activities under the TIBA Ghana project, the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) organised a public forum in collaboration with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of University of Cape Coast (UCC), and the Malaria Control Program (Ghana) to mark this year's World Malaria Day celebrations.
The forum organised on April 24, featured a panel discussion with experts from the University of Cape Coast, the Malaria Control Program, the Regional Health Directorate, and WACCBIP. Experts discussed various pertinent issues connected to malaria in Ghana including malaria control and prevention, malaria vector behaviours and prevention, and the effectiveness of intervention tools. They also deliberated over potential solutions for some of the major challenges impeding the fight against the disease in the country.
Prof. Francis Offei, Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, who was Chairman for the event, was excited about the depth of knowledge the discussions would draw out. He was encouraged by the panel's range of expertise, drawn locally, which, according to him, meant that the discussions would be relevant to the Ghanaian context.
The fight against malaria in Ghana took centre stage, with the discussions focused on how far Ghana has come and whether or not there was hope for elimination of the disease in the future.
Dr. Akosua Gyasi, the Case Management Focal Person for the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), underlined the progress made in the fight against Malaria in Ghana. According to her, in 2017, there was a 9 percent decrease in the number of reported cases from the estimated 10 million estimated cases recorded in 2016. She stated that the mortality rate has also dropped in the same period.
“In 2016, we recorded 1,200 malaria deaths but in 2017, there were 500 deaths,” Dr. Gyasi said. “Ghana is at the control stage, where our priority is to reduce morbidity and mortality to the minimum.”
Prof. Gordon Awandare, Director of WACCBIP, also spoke about the progress made in Ghana over the last few years. He was, however, concerned by warning signs that suggest progress may be stalling.
“I am hopeful that we can reduce malaria to a nuisance,” Prof. Gordon Awandare said. “We have made lots of progress, and malaria has steadily come down for the past ten years. This is because of the effective drugs and efforts being made into vector control, but we have to consolidate the gains because recent data from the World Health Organisation shows a stall and tick up. This is a warning sign.”
Disease control was also a major talking point. Experts spoke on control measures to stop mosquitoes from spreading the disease.
Dr. Asamoah Kusi, a member of WACCBIP faculty and a research fellow with the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, explained the responsibilities of individuals in vector control and the need to remain conscious of the malaria threat. He pointed out that mosquito biting behavior may have changed in recent years, making it necessary for individuals to be more cautious of the threats posed by mosquitoes.
“There is data that shows that the biting pattern of mosquitoes in places where people use nets are changing. Instead of biting when you are sleeping, the mosquitoes rather bite in the morning when you are sweeping,” Dr. Kusi said. “We need to constantly modify our behaviors to keep these intervention methods effective.”
Experts advised caution in the use of herbal medicines to treat malaria. According to one panelist, about 80% of people in Africa use herbal medicine as the first point of treatment, either wholly or in combination with other medicines. He pointed out that, although there are success stories with plants like Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, traditionally used in West Africa to treat malaria, there were several dubious merchants of herbal medicines, who could not be completely trusted.
Dr. Robert Peter Biney, a pharmacist at University of Cape of Coast, School of Medical Sciences, also expressed fears over how these medicines are handled by some of these pedlars.
“My fear with these herbal medicine preparations is that, sometimes the pedlars actually abuse the orthodox medicines by mixing them with herbal medicine when preparing them,” Dr. Biney said. “You might think the herbal medicines are working but what is working are the orthodox ones.”
The panelists took questions from the audience and corrected several myths surrounding the disease in Ghana. They invited government to invest more in Science research in order to help develop local solutions that would be tailor-made for the problems that are peculiar to this part of the world.
Prof. Gordon Awandare was appreciative of efforts of external donors contributing their quota to Science research in Africa. He explained that most of the funding from donor countries is sourced from their tax payers contributions to help build capacity to do research. He encouraged African governments to do the same.
“We have to fund research, I see a lot of young people here, next time politicians ask you to vote for them ask them what they are doing for health research,” Prof. Awandare said. “No country can develop without research. Currently, in this country, our budget is always zero for research, so we have to go round the world to look for money for research. Put a specific budget for research every year, and let's get some innovation going.”
