Northern region records 815 malaria deaths in 2012

-->The latest stats available at the Northern Region Health Directorate have revealed that the Northern region recorded 815 deaths caused by malaria at the various health facilities across the region in 2012.

A total of 183,351 regional trend of malaria cases were admitted with Chereponi having 3,025, Bimbila 2,799, Gushiegu 4,083, Karaga 2,245, Savelugu 2,984 and the Tamale Teaching Hospital 3,137.

 It was revealed that the Regional Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT2) coverage increased from 58.2 percent in 2011 to 62.0 percent in 2012. The region has also showed a gradual increasing trend from 51.3 percent in 2008 to 62 percent in 2012.

This was revealed by the Northern Regional Coordinator of Roll Back Malaria, Dr. John Abenyeri during a presentation on the status of malaria prevalence in the region at a meeting organized in Tamale by the Coalition of NGO’s in malaria.

Dr. Abenyeri recalled that in 2010, the region witnessed the introduction of the second edition of the Anti-malaria drug policy.

This, he said was accompanied by the training of 1,500 health staff in malaria case management especially in pregnant women. 

Despite the tremendous interventions put in place to eradicate malaria diseases in the region, Dr. Abenyeri mentioned inadequate monitoring and supervision, inadequate feedback to districts and submission of financial and technical/narrative returns for funds received as some of the major challenges.

On the way forward, he underscored the need for the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) to address the high drop out between IPT1 and IPT3 Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp). 

Dr. Abenyeri recommended that there should be improvement in monitoring and supervision of malaria cases and the timely submission of financial and technical as well as narrative returns for funds received by the districts.

Malaria has over the years continued to be one of the major public health challenges for all age groups not only in the northern region but the country as a whole.
Several interventions have been put in place to address the challenge of malaria spanning over several years including the introduction of Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Initiative in the 1998 involving Heads of African States resulting in the Abuja Declaration.

Since the latter half of the year 2005, the region together with funding support from the Global Fund through the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) has intensified its efforts in the fight against malaria till it becomes a disease of no public health importance.