Standard Chartered and “Nets for Life” partners host confab on Malaria in Ghana
More than 100,000 lives to be saved from malaria in 3 Northern Regions
Accra, 2 March 2007 - Standard Chartered and its partners in the anti-malaria partnership, Nets for Life, are set to meet in Accra, from March 2 to March 8 2008 to evaluate the present gains and discuss the future of the community initiative.
Nets for Life, Standard Chartered’s ambitious Africa-wide community partnership initiative is aimed at reducing the impact of malaria in 16 countries including Ghana.
The three-year Africa-wide USD12million initiative is designed to reduce the transmission of the malarial parasite through improved preventive measures and aims to distribute more than 1 million Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LLITNs) by the end of 2008.
Since April 2006, Nets for Life, has been launched in 11 countries - Angola, Burundi, DR Congo, Ghana, Ghana, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia, and has trained a total of 5,091 malaria agents and distributed about 684,837 nets so far.
It is important to note that, in Ghana, under our Standard Chartered – Ghana@50 Future Leaders Program, Nets for Life is one of our legacy contributions to the Ghana@50 celebrations and through which we are committed to distributing 49,500 LLITNs. The initial focus has been on the three regions in the north of Ghana, specifically the Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions.
A lot of successes were chalked in 2007 in spite of the challenges with the poor nature of the access roads to the project sites. These include
- LLITN beneficiary base was increased in order to facilitate the distribution of more nets. A total of 23,370 nets have so far been distributed, with 14,570 nets going to the Talensi/Nabdam and Bawku West districts in the Upper East region, 3,800 to the Karaga district and 5,000 to the Upper West district.
- 18 Malaria health clubs were formed in schools within all the 4 project districts of the programme: Club members use drama and quizzes to educate peers and organise inter school debates and quizzes on malaria HIV/AIDS and other health issues.
- Net re- treatment exercise activities were carried out in 80 hitherto non-project communities thereby cashing on the re-treatment exercise to expand the reach of the programme.
Commenting on the progress of the initiative in Ghana, Ebby Essoka, Standard Chartered CEO for Central and West Africa, says: "Malaria continues to be a significant health risk in many of our markets in Africa and Nets for Life is another example of Standard Chartered Ghana’s commitment to building a sustainable business, further strengthening our Brand promise as the right partner to our stakeholders.”
Nets for Life is designed to reduce the transmission of the malaria parasite through mosquito control programs and improved preventive measures at the household and community level. It is being undertaken by the Bank in partnership with the Anglican Church, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation and Exxon-Mobil.
The distribution of LLITNs is complemented by parallel educational programs raising awareness on the proper usage of the LLITNs to maintain its effectiveness in the fight against the spread of malaria. Within the coverage communities, Nets for Life will primarily focus on the vulnerable segments of the population, mainly children under 5, pregnant women, the chronically ill or immuno-compromised and the elderly.
Standard Chartered Bank has over the years won praise and acclaim for its community initiatives. This has been through its core and ongoing initiatives in the areas of curable sight restoration, HIV/AIDS and the award winning 100 Wells for 100 Communities Project through which the Bank provided a total of 100 bore-holes to an equal number of communities across the country between 2004 and 2006.
For more information, please contact:
Nii Okai NunooArea Head of Corporate Affairs, West Africa
Tel: +233(0)21 669688 Fax: +233 (0) 21 661676
Nii-Okai.Nunoo@standardchartered.com