Black Stars Captain joins mother in Malaria campaign

Accra, Nov. 19, GNA-Stephen 'Tornado' Appiah, Captain of the Black Stars, has added his voice to the call on Ghanaians to observe environmental cleanliness to help fight malaria in the country. This, he said would enable more talented footballers to be unearthed to play for the nation since the children would not die at the younger age as a result of malaria.

Appiah made the call in Accra on Wednesday when he joined his mother, Comfort Afua Amoortey, who is an Ambassador in the fight against malaria, to help the campaign against the disease. The programme is being championed by, "Add Your Voice Now", an Accra based non-governmental organization. "I would do everything possible to ensure the success of the programme," he said, adding, "I would do even more than what my mother is doing".

"I would take the campaign to Europe as a way of creating an awareness for all footballers to join it," he said. Appiah advised pregnant women and nursing mothers to take preventive measures to ensure the safety of their children against malaria.

He commended the NGOs for their initiative and called on other non-governmental organization to support a worthy cause. He appealed to Ghanaians to help the Black Stars in their bid to qualify for the World Cup slated for South Africa in 2010. Mr Kwabena Osei Bonsu, Chief Executive of Add Your Voice Now, said so far the NGO has distributed more than 7,000 treated mosquito nets in some parts of the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Volta regions since the exercise started two years ago. He expressed the hope that other regions would be covered soon.