STORY: Ghana aims to cut malaria deaths by 90 pct by 2028: official
SHOOTING TIME: April 25, 2024
DATELINE: April 27, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:44
LOCATION: Accra
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. various of blood tests
2. various of the World Malaria Day
3. SOUNDBITE (English): NANA YAW PEPRAH, Deputy program manager of the National Malaria Elimination Program

STORYLINE:

Ghana aims to reduce malaria deaths by 90 percent by 2028, Nana Yaw Peprah, deputy program manager of the National Malaria Elimination Program in Ghana, said on Thursday.
   
Peprah said on the sidelines of an event marking World Malaria Day in the Ghanaian capital of Accra that the country would start piloting mass drug administration in selected districts to treat all positive malaria cases promptly.
   
He added that under the program, chemoprevention will be introduced to reduce the incidence of malaria and malaria deaths among infants and children, who are most vulnerable to the disease.
   
Even though the project requires a lot of investment, the economic benefits are 20 times greater than the cost involved, he said.

SOUNDBITE (English): NANA YAW PEPRAH, Deputy program manager of National Malaria Elimination Program in Ghana
"Let's look at the benefits we will get. If you're able to invest that amount of money, malaria elimination in Ghana is fixable and something that can be achieved. We should all come together to identify what you can do and what your role is. Let's do this, eliminate malaria in our generation."

Between 2019 and 2023, Ghana cut malaria deaths by about 56 percent, from 333 in 2019 to 146 last year, according to Peprah.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Accra.
(XHTV)