Communication &Partnership Bill Brieger | 14 Sep 2012 04:39 pm
Ghana Footballers Fight Malaria
News from Ghana by Emmanuel Fiagbey, Ghana Malaria Voices Project:
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has held a special media event in Accra to highlight Ghana’s progress in the fight against malaria with support from the National Malaria Control Program and the Voices for a Malaria Free Future project of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Communication Programs. Just as in the previous Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the 2013 event will promote United Against Malaria (UAM) – an international effort for using football to draw attention to and mobilize support for malaria control efforts.
GFA’s 7th September media event was a prelude to the Ghana–Malawi qualifying match and attracted representatives from 21 print and broadcast outlets and malaria-related agencies and NGOs.
The event was opened by GFA’s president Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi who reminded those present that …
“Because of GFA’s national reach, Mr. Nyantakyi promised to work towards bringing on board the UAM Partnership local football clubs which belong to the Ghana League Clubs Association to support dissemination of important malaria prevention and treatment messages in communities all over the country.”
Members of the Ghana Media Malaria Advocacy Network (GMMAN) and other journalists who participated in the event were very enthusiastic in continuing to disseminate malaria information through their publications. They however called on the Voices Project to keep them regularly posted on developments at the malaria front.
Maybe the GFA’s enthusiastic support for United Against Malaria helped propel them to success as Ghana Beat Malawi in AFCON 2013 Qualifier a few days later! Of course no national FA in Africa can afford to ignore the threat of malaria to their teams or their communities.