THE Ministry of Health will, tomorrow, with various stakeholders, be hosting a conference on malaria at the Princess Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara. According to Dr. Rayad Rahaman, who heads the committee responsible for the conference, it presents an opportunity for stakeholders to get together and to make people aware of malaria and the vector control system.

He said that various stakeholders would be involved, including Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the Global Fund, and various mining, Amerindian and other organisations.

Dr. Rahaman related that consultants from PAHO would also be conducting lectures on malaria during the conference, being held under the theme “Malaria and the National Agenda – Recalibrating Our Response: Emerging Challenges, Networking and New Initiatives” with the aim of engaging longstanding and new partners in the national mobilisation effort against malaria, in order to better garner and synchronise their support as stakeholders.

The malaria conference is only one initiative in the Health Ministry’s continuous fight against malaria. Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran recently handed over in excess of 101 million dollars’ worth of insecticide-impregnated bed nets to various organizations, which have workers in malaria-prone areas.

In addition, the ministry has been distributing educational materials on malaria, in an effort to sensitize people of the disease and how to protect themselves.

The Health Ministry is also establishing malaria committees in hinterland areas, and school health clubs with a focus on malaria for those schools in malaria-prone areas.