GHANA

According to the World Health Organization, Ghana had an estimated 7.2 million cases of malaria in 2006. Of those cases, 3.9 million of them occurred in children under five years old.  Malaria is a nationwide problem, which Voices Ghana is helping to eliminate.

In Ghana, the Voices Project aims to:

• Sustain resources and expand political commitment for malaria control, contributing to a decrease in malaria mortality
• Improve access to malaria interventions by promoting appropriate resource allocation
• Equip national leaders with credible information to speak out on malaria, mobilize funds, coordinate activities and address bottlenecks
• Develop national mass media campaigns coordinated with the World Cup campaign messages to raise the level of political commitment
• Build district level advocacy to engage local leaders as malaria champions, increase visibility and awareness, prioritize & facilitate flow of information & maintain district & national level funding

Accomplishments

• Created an environment in which national leaders have become motivated to speak for and openly support malaria control as an important development activity.
• Supported review and finalization of National Malaria Strategic Plan 2008-2015
• Produced advocacy materials for use by leaders in government, public, private and civil society, making malaria advocacy a more acceptable activity and a responsibility of key leaders.
• Developed district malaria advocacy teams (DMAT) model, which included increased involvement of all stakeholders, increased community level malaria education with chiefs, women leaders, assembly members, and family heads as part of implementation of DMAT Action Plans.
• Developed the Ghana Media Malaria Advocacy Network – promoting effective reporting of malaria in the media.
• Created the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Malaria – providing a forum for enhancing involvement of civil society in malaria advocacy promotion of community level implementation of malaria prevention and treatment programs
• Developed TV Spots targeting Ghanaian leaders and health providers encouraging them to use their power to fight malaria.
• Development of a malaria resource map highlighting malaria funds and resource needs by district.
• Produced three key print materials: The Ghana Malaria Advocacy Guide, a guide for using One Percent District Assembly Common Fund for Malaria, and the Nine Steps District Malaria Advocacy Model to be used by Voices leaders at national and district levels.

Current Activities

• Workshops on advocacy and behavior change communication for public and private sector decision makers
• NGO leadership mobilization and strengthening
• For the National Malaria BCC Mass Media Campaign, in collaboration with the NMCP and the PMI/USAID-ProMPT project:  Review and harmonization of messages and materials, production of TV and Radio documentaries, print materials, and Ghana Malaria Action Alert Vol. 2.
• The launch and operation of media campaign on national TV and 10 Regional FM Radio stations
• Improved reporting through Ghana Media Malaria Advocacy Network Forum on ITN availability and use
• Securing the President of Ghana to attend and present as Chief National Voice at World Malaria Day events
• Expanding the application of the District Malaria Advocacy model (DMAT) in six new districts and continuing support for the 11 existing Voices One DMATs
• Providing small grants support for NGOs and DMATs in 17 districts
• Regularly publish the bulletin “Ghana Malaria Action Alert,” providing appropriate information to influence malaria policy decisions

For the United Against Malaria campaign, activities include:

• Partnership building, including developing Team Ghana, comprised of NMCP, GFA, GHALCA, National Sports Council, MTN, corporate bodies and media.  Official Team Ghana launch held week of November 14, 2009 when Ghana plays Mali in the last World Cup qualifier match.
• Design and development of UAM messages and materials
• Pretesting and production of electronic and print materials
• Special match day events programs to support ITN acceptance and use
• Special forum for Parliamentary Committee on Health with the theme “Money spent on malaria is money saved for development.” Includes media coverage and signing of United Against Malaria Ball
• Review and design key messages on ITN and IPTp promotion
• Production and pretesting of Star Family TV Spot using national football stars and their mothers to promote ITN use, and Abedi Pele and his family to promote IPTp
• Airing of TV spots during preliminaries to World Cup and African Cup and during the world cup
• Monitoring and evaluation of media activities

Ghana Malaria ACTION ALERT! Malaria stands between Ghana and the achievement of its development objectives. Help make Ghana a malaria-free, healthy and productive nation. To be a part of this new effort, please contact femmanuel@voicesgh.org to receive the Ghana Malaria Action Alerts and other information. Volume 1, Issue 10 (December 2009) Volume 1, Issue 7 (October 2008) Volume 1, Issue 6 (June 2008) Volume 1, Issue 5 (December 2007) Volume 1, Issue 4 (August 2007) Volume 1, Issue 3 (July 2007) Volume 1, Issue 2 (April 2007) Volume 1, Issue 1 (March 2007)

Audio and Videos

• Ghana "Use Your Power" 6 minute documentaries
  
               
  
  
• Malaria Advocacy Song
  
       
  
  
• TV Spots
  
            
  
  
• Pocasts
  • Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director, Ghana, speaks about Voices activities
    October 2009

Publications

• Use Your Power to Fight Malaria Posters [Poster 1] [Poster 2] [Poster 3] [Poster 4]
• Ghana 1% Guide on the District Assemblies Common Fund for Malaria Initiatives
  Ghana Voices for a Malaria-free Future developed this guide to facilitate effective and appropriate use of the government allocated fund for malaria control programs.
• Ghana Malaria Advocacy Guide
  This guide is designed to help malaria advocates clearly understand the concept of advocacy and master the knowledge and skills required to successfully operate as effective malaria advocates.
• The Nine Steps District Malaria Advocacy Model
  This guide outlines the steps needed to achieve total district leadership engagement in planning, delivering, monitoring and evaluating their malaria advocacy activities.
• Ghana Voices Malaria Advocacy Project - Strategy and Year One Workplan
• RBM 2005 Report for Ghana
• PMI Country Profile for Ghana
• RBM Country Information
• 2003 DHS
• World Malaria Report- Ghana
• Global Fund Malaria Portfolio
• Unicef: At a Glance

Success Stories

• PRIVATE SECTOR: Ghana Gold Mine Effort Leads to 50% Drop in Malaria