Some of the beneficiaries receiving the items
Gold Fields Ghana Limited, according to Abdel Razak Yakubu, Executive Secretary of Gold Fields Ghana Foundation, is devoted to promoting the health and well-being of people in the mining company’s host communities.
According to him, to that purpose, the company’s Tarkwa mine has spent $2,195,150.92 through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation on health and wellbeing activities for individuals in its host communities.
He also stated that the company’s Damang mine had spent around $732,006.94 on similar initiatives since its beginning.
Speaking at this year’s World Malaria Day ceremony in Huniso, Western Region, Mr. Yakubu stated that the foundation would spend approximately $7,000 this year in Tarkwa and Damang to combat malaria.
The theme of the event was “Time to Deliver Zero Malaria; Invest, Innovate, Implement,” which brought together school children, members of the community, health professionals, farmers as well as pregnant women.
The occasion was utilised to teach community members about malaria and its prevention, as well as treatment and the usage of mosquito repellant and bed nets.
Malaria test kits were also available to screen persons for malaria, while pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and school children were also given mosquito repellent.
Mr. Yakubu said that the mining firm has been fighting malaria with the international community since 2007.
He stated that the Gold Fields Foundation had carried out a number of health-related programmes and projects, including the construction of health facilities and the organising of health outreaches, among other things.
He said that the corporation had built a maternity block and nurses’ quarters at Huniso, as well as doctors’ quarters at Huni-Valley, both of which are yet to be commissioned.
According to Timothy Kobina Ofori, Prestea Huni Valley Municipal Health Director, about 9,726 malaria cases among children under the age of five were registered in the municipality last year.
He stated that eliminating malaria in the municipality and the country as a whole necessitates a comprehensive approach in which everyone plays their respective duties.
From Emmanuel Opoku, TakoradiÂ