Advocacy &Communication Bill Brieger | 25 Jul 2011 07:54 am
Ghana National Unity Games: Sports men and women become Malaria Ambassadors
By Guest Writer – Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director, Ghana Voices for a Malaria-free Future
The Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) Voices for a Malaria-free Future Project under its flagship program, United Against Malaria, and in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Program and other partners have presented special commemorative ceritificates and T’Shirts to the National Sports Authority here in Accra.
The Certificates signed by the Director General of the National sports Authority Mr. Worlanyo Agra will be presented to all 4,942 participants and their officials. They carry the messages:
“Be a member of the Winning Team- Sleep in treated mosquito nets every night; Take only ACTs any time you have malaria; Encourage pregnant women in your house to seek Antenatal care on time; and Keep Ghana Malaria-free for the next games.â€
The over 600 T’Shirts which also carry the above messages will be presented to members of the finalist teams of all the team games including Football, Volleyball, Table tennis, Handball, Netball, Basket ball, and the winners of the first, second and third positions in all the athletics events.
Mr. Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director JHU/CCP Voices, in presenting the items called on all sports men and women as well as their officials to remain ambassadors in the fight against malaria. He charged them to continue to behave as models in their communities in ensuring that families make maximum use of their treated mosquito nets and no one uses any other medicine apart from ACTs in treating malaria when they fall sick of the disease.
The Director General of the National Sports Authority, Mr. Worlanyo Agra in receiving the items commended the ever growing partnership between the malaria program community and the National Sports Authority. “We would remain active members of the United Against Malaria partnership and continue to ensure that sporting activities at all levels, national, regional, district and community are used as grounds for educating our people on malaria prevention and correct treatment of the disease.
Whether you are a sports man or woman or not, mosquitoes do not know the difference and the malaria parasite they carry can kill any one of us any time if we fail to sleep in our nets or take the correct medicinesâ€, he emphasized.