On Tuesday, 25th April 2023, a conglomeration of Traditional rulers, Health and Education workers, Students, and the Bibiani Senior High Technical School community converged on the above-mentioned school park to commemorate this year’s World Malaria Day.
In his opening remarks, the Municipal Director of Health, Mr. Oheneba Oppong Darko welcomed the gathering and expressed his gratitude to them for honoring his invitation.
Touching on Malaria, Mr. Oppong Darko quoted, Sustainable Development Goal 4 which explicitly states, “Good health and wellbeing.” He continued that Malaria threatens the achievement of this goal so a concerted effort should be made by all to combat it. “Malaria drains household resources due to increased healthcare costs, it worsens poverty as a result of poor productivity at work and stifles national development”, he added.
Statistically, the Health Director gave the Global, National, Regional, and Municipal indicators that showed a positive impact on the efforts made to eliminate the deadly disease.
Concerning the Western North Region, the Health Director indicated that the total number of new Malaria cases decreased from 988,773 in 2019 to 870,937 in 2022. Malaria admissions also decreased from 16,478 in 2019 to 10,016 in 2022.
He also observed that the total new cases of Malaria in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipality have reduced from 70,166 in 2019 to 50,080 in 2022. Malaria admissions also decreased from 5,829 in 2019 to 4,062 in 2022.
As part of the celebration, Mr. Oppong Darko, the Municipal Health Director, donated a set of jerseys, boots, and 500 pieces of mosquito nets to the school.
