Malaria is responsible for the death of many children and adults in Ghana. Many Ghanaians do not regard it as a serious disease leaving them more exposed to a higher chance of being infected. Tanf Ghana had its first health screening this year and the screening was focused on malaria. The screening was organized with the help of some volunteers and was held at Aburi/Ejanua a village in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
From the afternoon through to the evening we screened the inhabitants of this village. We first started with a health talk on malaria and educated the people on the importance of protecting themselves from mosquitoes. Many of them had questions regarding the prevention of malaria and the use of the mosquito nets, which we answered.
After the screening, our analysis showed that 42% of the children and 12 % of the adults screened tested positive for Malaria.in Ejuana. We also screened adults to know their blood pressure level and about 45% of them had hypertension while 40% of them had grade 2 or 3. Hypertension is a growing health problem in Ghana especially among women and a few men. Many of them were already aware of their blood pressure condition but were not taking any action to visit health centers to seek medication and medical advice because the medical costs were too much for them.
All the people who tested positive for malaria were given medication and asked to also seek medical advice. The adults who had high blood pressure were educated on how to live and maintain a healthy living and to also seek medical advice. After all, screening had been done, the children were given some stationaries to use in school.
This screening was very successful and many of the people were very grateful to Tanf Ghana. We were able to make this possible because of the help all our sponsors and volunteers have put in to help these people through Tanf Ghana.
