THE “NO MORE MALARIA” CAMPAIGN

“Our Journey with a purpose to curb Malaria on the Streets of Accra.”

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”- Maya Angelou

Thursday, 21^st September, 2017, came with a ray of hope and determination to bring smiles and to change the narrative of how Kaya-yei battle and survive malaria on the streets of Accra.

Kaya-yei are often migrants from remote regions who have come to cities such as Accra in search of better employment and greener pastures. These are Accra’s female market porters some as young as eight who have made the streets of Accra their home. They sleep at night in the open with plastic covers as protection against rain and mosquitoes.

In 2016, ADK Consortium, Management Consultants in Infrastructure Development comprising of Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Civil and Service Engineers, launched a charity campaign dubbed the "ADK Gifts of Hope Project”, initiated by Ing. Michael Krakue, Chairman of ADK Consortium with the ultimate aim of supporting needy and under privileged children in Ghana.

As part of the "ADK Gifts of Hope Project", ADK with the support of Heels & Boots International (HBI), a social enterprise in Ghana empowering under-privileged women with requisite skills in Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness, economic independence as well as dealing with life and health matters, embarked on a campaign dubbed the “NO MORE MALARIA CAMPAIGN” to provide a means of support for Kaya-yei and their children to survive without Malaria throughout the rainy season and beyond and to create a platform on which these vulnerable ones could be sensitized on the importance of Environmental management, Symptoms, Prevention, and Malaria vaccines (ACTs) available at Public Health facilities.

According to the World Health Organization, Malaria remains a major killer of children, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, taking the life of a child every 2 minutes. In 2015, there were 438,000 deaths from Malaria globally, and about 306,000 of these were children under 5 years of age. 

The UN records that over 6.2 million malaria deaths have been averted between 2000 and 2015, primarily of children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. The global malaria incidence rate has fallen by an estimated 37 per cent and the mortality rates by 58 per cent.

Although Ghana has recorded about 10 million cases of Malaria during the year 2015, contributing to 38.1% of OPD cases, there’s still more work been done to curtail this challenge. Poverty and illiteracy has left a wide knowledge gap in vulnerable communities especially on the subject of eradicating Malaria.

In supporting Ghana’s Malaria Control Programme and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages which is essential to sustainable development, ADK also partnered with the Friends of Health Association – FOHA Ghana (Professional  Health practitioners) and Ghana Health Nest, Ghana's leading website for trusted health news, medical information, patient and professional experiences, healthy lifestyle tips, to successfully accomplish the “NO MORE MALARIA CAMPAIGN” at Agbogbloshie Market.

Through the dusty streets of Agbogbloshie, the slow moving human and vehicular traffic, the “NO MORE MALARIA CAMPAIGN” witnessed about 10 volunteers, 100 Kaya-yei and their children trouping to the venue, in front of the Kayayoo Association Office at Agbogbloshie. Education and sensitization on the causes, symptoms and prevention of malaria was facilitated by FOHA. Good sanitation measures were also outlined for the Kaya-yei to practice. The campaign climaxed with free voluntary malaria test screening and the distribution of the “NMM pack”. The NMM pack consisted of 1 treated Mosquito Net, 3 Mosquito repellant lotions, 2 Hand sanitizers and drinks and biscuits for the children.

Out of about 100 Kaya-yei and children that participated, 50 of them voluntarily took part in the medical screening exercise and only one baby tested positive for the malaria parasite and was given first-aid treatment and further directed to a health facility.

The “NO MORE MALARIA CAMPAIGN” was a great success as the Kaya-yei expressed gratitude and shared experiences and stories of how the rainy season and the evidence of stagnant waters, choked gutters and pockets of flood waters was breeding mosquitoes at Agbogbloshie and how the Campaign will enhance and empower them to take good care of themselves, their children and their environment.

The next “NO MORE MALARIA CAMPAIGN” will be held in November at Darkuman, Accra, where most Kaya-yei reside and later transcended annually to the various Kaya-yei dominated communities in Accra.

Source: ADK Consortium, 2017