Malaria a number 1 killer of children under 5 – UNICEF report
Malaria continues to be a number killer of children less than 5 years in the Upper East region despite interventions made to control it. 72 children born out of thousand live births continue to die before they attain age 5.
This worrying state of child mortality in the region is blamed on some parents unwillingness to allow children sleep under treated mosquito nets.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2014 data, only 3 out of every 10 children in the Upper East region sleep under treated mosquito nets thereby contributing to the increasing spate of child deaths due to malaria.
Evelyn Ngaanuma, Knowledge Management Officer of UNICEF bemoaned the increasing spate of malaria cases in the region and the country at large despite UNICEF’s support through Ghana Health Service in the distribution of free mosquito nets to households.
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She revealed this during meeting with selected journalists in the Upper East Region on how to ensure there is equity for every child in the region. While the region recorded an improvement in nutrition, Madam Ngaanuma expressed worry over an increasing teenage pregnancy in the region.
“For this region, this has been very striking that teenage pregnancy rate is %18. It means almost 1 out of 10 girls gets pregnant and that’s average.”
On sanitation, Madam Ngaanuma said only 2 out of 10 households in the region have toilets facilities, the rest practice open defecation.
“It is a basic right to have an improve toilet facility and it is a basic right for children to have access to improve sanitation in their homes and also protect their dignity as well,” she added.
She urged journalists to use their medium to education the public on behavioral change towards sanitation by “empowering the communities to understand the implications of open defecation”.
By: Joshua Asaah|A1radioonline.com|Ghana
