$500 million spent annually in fighting malaria

By Ebenezer Hanson

It has been revealed the country coughs a colossal $500 million yearly in fighting malaria.

The Minister for Health, Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), disclosed this at a seminar on “ Fighting Diseases of Poverty “, organised by the Imani Centre for Humane Education, an Accra-based NGO last Friday.

According to the minister, nearly half of the cases recorded in our hospitals and clinics are due to malaria and related diseases. One out of every death in our health facilities is also the result of malaria.

He regretted that while the nation is struggling to win the battle against malaria, the cost of chronic and degenerative conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes is on the rise.

Major Quashigah observed, “This double burden of disease with a mix of persistent, new and re-emerging infectious diseases and increasing chronic conditions and injuries is already leading to fundamental changes in the volume and composition of demand for health care in this country ”.

He traced the source of most infections and infestations to the environment, and slums, which continue to develop particularly in the peri-urban areas, adding that this phenomenon would continue to be a challenge.

“ The silent epidemic of non-communicable diseases can also be linked directly to the changing lifestyles of the average Ghanaian which is characterised by poor eating habits, lack of exercise, rest and recreation.”

He blamed some of the vibrant areas of the economy such as the fast food industry for promoting such negative health habits, while noting that the major challenge is to support the drive for lifestyle changes and the adoption of healthier habits by individuals, families and communities.

The Health Minister also observed that lack of enforcement of basic laws including laws on occupational safety and health hazards has led to indiscipline in society and specifically on roads which in turn has contributed to numerous occupational and traffic related accidents with high human and economic tolls.

He proposed the incorporation of health education and nutrition into the curriculum of junior secondary schools, believing that if the children imbibe lessons on good health habits at early ages they will grow with it.

Speaking on “ Private and Public Sector Collaboration in Accessing Quality Health Care”, Mr. Edmund Bampoh, Chairman of the Association of Recognized Ethical Pharmaceutical Industries (AREPI), suggested that an effective way of surmounting the problems facing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is a strong collaboration between government and the private sector.

“Government cannot run the NHIS alone and therefore it is incumbent upon the government to support private pharmaceutical firms to survive for them to contribute meaningfully to the scheme.”

He described the drugs under the NHIS as a “narrow list of outdated medications”, and that “ close to 50 percent of drugs on the market are counterfeit or substandard; and such disturbing situation makes the call for the complementary role the private sector more compelling.

Besides, he called for co-payment of drugs between government and private sector as well as partnership between the two sectors in laboratory work.

“If we are thinking of attaining middle income status then we must be talking of quality health service delivery,” he added.


Mr. Bampoh believes if countries in the West African sub-region decide to purchase drugs in bulk from abroad prices could be negotiated further downwards.

The Marketing Development Manager of Pfizer, Ghana, Mr. Divine Akaba, who spoke on “Intellectual Property Issues in the Pharmaceutical Industry” revealed that Intellectual Property Laws have contributed immensely to the development of the pharmaceutical industry and “ without it 65 per cent of existing innovative products would not have been introduced unto the market ”.

The world community ultimately, he pointed out, benefits from pharmaceutical innovations by way of new drugs citing medicines that are being used for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis as examples.

He said Intellectual property rights also protect trade secrets since their usage without the consent of the inventor is criminal.

Earlier a book titled, “Fighting the Diseases of poverty”, and launched by Major Quashigah was reviewed by its Editor, Mr. Philip Stevens. According to him, a large number of people in Least Developing Countries (LDCs) suffer diseases because of poverty.

And that 45 percent of the illness in LDCs are caused by poverty, which manifests itself in malnutrition, indoor air pollution and poor sanitation, among others.

He said although many of the said diseases are preventable, access to medicines is low and this could be blamed on weak health systems, corruption, inadequate risk pooling and high taxes and tariffs.

He proposed that the way forward for the LDCs is to work towards economic growth, which translates, into better health, encouraged diversity of healthcare provision and practice risk pooling.