Asanko Gold enrols Keniago residents onto health scheme
Mining firm, Asanko Gold Ghana Limited, has in the first quarter of this year, enrolled over 1,500 people onto the free National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Manager for Environment and Sustainability of the company, Dr Daniel Osei Twumasi, has said.
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He said making health care freely accessible to the people, especially those in the deprived mining communities, was key on the company’s priority list. He made the remark when the company organised a free health screening and donated some consumables to stock the Amansie South District Hospital at a short ceremony at Keniago in the Amansie South District.
The event saw personnel of the NHIS issue instant health insurance cards to the beneficiaries, mostly the elderly at Keniago and surrounding communities. It was in commemoration of this year’s World Malaria Day, held on Thursday April 25, 2024, on the theme: “Health Equity: The Cornerstone for Achieving Malaria Elimination”.
All persons present at the event were given mosquito nets for free, all in the mining firm’s bid to help reduce recorded cases of malaria in the mining communities. It was done in partnership with the German International Development Cooperation (GIZ).
Fighting malaria
The Amansie South District Health Director, Dr Ofosu Kobby Nasas, said that in order for the people to avoid malaria infections, there was the need for all to practise healthy lifestyles.
“Keep your environs clean. Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, he said, adding that the repercussions of one not tidying up his or her environment were deadly. He said there were fears of a potential rise in malaria infection in the district due to a large number of uncovered pits left by the activities of illegal miners.
“We all know for a fact that these abandoned ‘galamsey’ pits are breeding grounds for mosquitoes,’’ he noted, and called for authorities to ensure that miners reclaimed the lands after mining.
Although, no one has died of malaria in the last four years, the health director advised the residents to always sleep in mosquito nets and adopt good environmental practices within their communities to help eradicate the menace.
