NEW MALARIA DRUG LAUNCHED IN TAKORADI (PAGE 14)

Damass Ghana Limited, a pharmaceutical company, has launched a new malaria drug in the Twin-City of Sekondi/Takoradi.
The new medicine, Malmed Artesunate with Amodiaquine is flavoured for easy swallowing by children and is said to be more friendly to both children and adults.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Ernest Anderson of the Kwesimintsim Polytechnic said despite the frantic efforts to address the prevalence of malaria infection, the problem still persisted.
He said the situation at hospitals at present was not the best, adding that “as at the first half of this year, more than 2,666 cases of children who were less than five years were reported at the polyclinic.”
“The situation is not the best as in the previous year, the polyclinic received 3,400 cases”. Adult cases reported at the clinic in the first half of this year were more than 7,000 which were almost close to 13,495 by the close of 2007.
He said these figures indicated that there was a lot of work to be done to ensure that cases of malaria, especially in children were reduced.
A pharmacist, Mr Kwadwo O. Appenteng, said one the biggest challenge was the attitude of the people.
He said many drugs came to help reduce the palliating malarial cases but people have formed their own perceptions about certain drugs and still continued with the same old way of treating malaria.
Mr Appenteng called for thorough examination of herbal treatment to ensure that people who believed in them took the required dose to avert cases of over dose and complications that might result from their use.
He said much as efforts where being made to find drugs to combat malaria, there was also the need to re-echo the preventive measures to make sure that the root cause of the ailment was dealt with.
Mr Appenteng suggested an increase in the channel of distributing treated mosquito nets by adding pharmacies across the country to retail the products.
In her remark, the area Manager of Damass Ghana Limited, Mrs Yaa Pokua Baiden said the company interested in giving the best medicine for quality health care.