Accra — Ninety community-based health educators have received training on one of the notable killer diseases, malaria, to enable them to embark on mass education of their respective communities on the dangers of the disease.

The training workshops were held on different days for participants from Jacobu and Essowin in the Amansie Central and West Dstricts respectively, while that of the Bekwai Municipality was the last in the training sessions. Thirty community health educators drawn from each of the local government areas participated.

Ashanti Region-based health NGO, Network for Health and Relief Foundation (NHRF), organised the trainings as the local implementing partner of a Mobilize Against Malaria (MAM) project initiated by United States pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer International.

Malaria has long been identified as a major cause of poverty and low productivity in Ghana with an average of three million cases reported at health centres annually.

In spite of several intervening efforts including indoor residual spraying, and the distribution of insecticide bed nets, only modest gains have been made in the fighting the disease.

Pfizer International as a result is, through its global philanthropy, collaborating with the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation (GSMF) and the Family Health International (FHI) to implement the malaria intervention program dubbed MAM.

The project aims at contributing to the overall reduction in malaria-related morbidity and mortality in Ghana.

The project, which is in two components, has already offered training to over 510 licensed chemical sellers in the Ashanti Region, which is being implemented by the FHI through its local partners and the training of community health educators being implemented by the GSMF and local partners such as the NHRF.

The 90 participants from the three districts were taken through vigorous training by facilitators from the district health directorates.

Major topics treated included; the breeding grounds of the female anopheles mosquito which is responsible for transmitting malaria to humans and the signs, symptoms and treatment of the disease.

They also received tuition on community mobilization, communication skills and advocacy. This is to prepare them to be able to engage their communities and effectively preach the "gospel" of malaria.Later in an interview, the Executive Director of the NHRF, Mr. Samuel Oracca-Tetteh, said that the trainees would not go out to act as physicians by undertaking diagnosis and writing prescription for people who exhibit signs of malaria."

They are only to educate their community members on the dangers of malaria and how to identify the uncomplicated signs and symptoms of malaria after which they are to advise patients to seek early treatment at health centres," he said.He urged them to show commitment and seriousness to help eradicate malaria from the country since it is having negative consequences on the lifestyles of the citizenry.