Waste management expert Zoomlion and a member of the Jospong Group of Companies in collaboration with the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Services and the Noguchi Memorial Centre have began an extensive training of key malaria control players across the country towards the implementation of a national malaria control programme, which focuses mainly on killing the larvae of mosquitos.

This is a strategic effort by key players to reduce if not completely eradicate mosquito breeding in Ghana.

In the opening remarks, Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, Social and Behaviour Change Communications Specialist of the National Malaria Control Programme of the Ghana Health Service, said apart from other interventions undertaken by government to curb the malaria menace, the ministry’s malaria control programme together with its key partners such as Zoomlion were going to implement a nationwide larvaeciding programme to drastically reduce the spread of mosquitos.

The Vector Control Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Rev. Ebenezer Addae underscored the need for the collaboration to implement the programme since malaria is one of the most dangerous diseases in the Sub-Saharan Africa that is taking so many lives on daily basis.

He said, the programme selected key players in the sector such as Zoomlion district/municipal managers, district/municipal environmental health officers, district/municipal malaria hocal persons, NAMCOP spraying gang leaders and community sprayers to train them on the kinds of mosquitos, how to map for spraying and some safety measures and technicalities in the field of larvaeciding and mosquito control as a whole.

He explained that the process of how to map for the actual implementation of the programme in the districts and communities safely is also thought thoroughly in these trainings.

Rev. Addae indicated that this particular training which took place in Accra was the first of its kind, and that the company was going to replicate it in all the regions in order for the exercise to be successful.

The consultant, Dr Silas Majambere, said the world is becoming aware that larvaeciding is one if the best approaches to reduce mosquito breeding, especially in Africa.

He said in as much as the other interventions such as the distribution and usage of treated bed nets, diagnosis and treatment as well as the discovery of effective medicines to treat, larvaeciding was still seen as the best control measure a government would want to undertake.

Meanwhile, over 130 health and environmental health professionals in the Central Region have been trained to embark on a mass mosquito larvae spraying exercise to substantially reduce mosquito breeding in the region.

Dr Silas Majambere, a Burundian, and Director of Scientific Operations at the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) is lead consultant of the programme.

He took participants through the process of mapping among others.

In an interview with some of the participants, they believe because of the rigorous nature of the training, the trickling effect will be positive in Ghana’s efforts to reduce the spread of mosquitos.