Parliamentary Caucus on Malaria inaugurated
The Parliamentary Caucus on Malaria Control and Elimination has been inaugurated at the Parliament in Accra to help raise more awareness and garner support for the fight against malaria in the country.
The Caucus, chaired by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effiduase/Asokore Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, included Dr. Patrick Boakye-Yiadom, Vice Chairman; Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah; Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi; Mr. Dominic Aduna Bingab Ntitiwul; Augustine Collins Ntim; Mr. Akwasi Konadu; Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan; Mr. Oscar Liwaal; Naana Eyiah, and Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.
Other members are: Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane; Mr. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze; Mr. Sebastian N. Sandaare; Alhaji Mubabarak Muntaka; Mr. Charles Agbeve; Mr. Eric Afful; Mr. Mohammed Adamu Ramadan; Madam Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, and Madam Bettey Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah.
The Committee, comprised MPs from both the Majority and Minority sides of the house.
Prior to the inauguration, the 20 membership of the Parliamentary Committee on Malaria Control and Elimination were sensitised on the disease, control efforts and other related matters at a workshop organised by the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), with support from Speak Up Africa, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Dakar, Senegal on, on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Joseph Osei Owusu, who inaugurated the Committee charged the members to bring their various expertise onboard to help the country to win the war over malaria.
He expressed the concern that malaria was a dangerous disease that needed all state and non-state actors to put their hands on deck to fight it.
For his part, the Director General of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboagye, announced a change in the name of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) to the National malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and tasked NMCP to align to the goals of elimination.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus, Dr. Afriyie reminded the Speaker of Parliament on how he and some members were nominated by parliament to participate in the first-ever meeting of parliamentarians in the sub-region on malaria which was organised by the West African Health Organization (WAHO).
At said meeting, he explained, he was given the duty to Chair the ECOWAS Regional Parliamentary Network on malaria elimination. .
On his part, the Deputy Minister of Health Mr Mahama Asei Seini, who read the speech on behalf of the Minister of Health said Ghana was making strides in the fight against malaria.
He noted that the government was more interested in empowering the National Malaria Elimination Programme to pursue the malaria elimination agenda.
The Deputy Speaker and all the members of the Caucus signed a commitment card to help fight malaria in Ghana.