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First Lady of the Republic, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo has appealed to international advocates and stakeholders in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy to scale up their efforts aimed at using Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) to protect pregnant women and their unborn babies from the harmful effects of malaria during the period of pregnancy.

Mrs. Akufo-Addo made the call when she addressed attendees of one of several events organized by Devet at the Neuehouse, Madison Square, New York, on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) under the theme "Protecting Pregnant Women against Malaria: Speeding up Uptake to IPTp in affected African countries".

The event which was sponsored and convened by RBM Partnership To End Malaria, essentially invited African First Ladies to provide leadership to the continuation of the campaign and join as champions, the effort to scale up access and uptake of antenatal care services and IPTp on the African continent.

"Our pregnant women must receive Intermittent Preventive Treatment once a month or at least 3 times, during pregnancy. We must also ensure that they sleep under treated bed net in addition to effective case management of malaria when necessary.

"This can help save the lives of pregnant women and their unborn children. But we must make sure SP is readily available at health facilities. We must ensure an efficient and expanded supply chain system for SP distribution and access", Mrs. Akufo-Addo said.

Mrs. Akufo-Addo affirmed the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation’s support for Ghana’s Malaria Prevention Programme.

“We will continue to educate, create awareness, conduct medical outreaches, provide insecticide treated nets, and construct more primary health facilities known in Ghana as CHPS compounds.”

She called on stakeholders to join in the work of upscaling the use of Intermittent Preventive Treatment to protect pregnant women and their unborn children from the devastating effects of malaria in pregnancy.