Hima cement company begins sh500m malaria programme
Apr 20, 2009
HIMA Cement has launched a two-year community malaria prevention campaign worth sh500m in Kasese district. The campaign will benefit at least 28,000 residents of Hima town.
By John Nzinjah
HIMA Cement has launched a two-year community malaria prevention campaign worth sh500m in Kasese district. The campaign will benefit at least 28,000 residents of Hima town.
The company is the leading private enterprise in the country in fighting malaria, according to the state minister for primary health care, James Kakooza, who presided over the launch on Thursday at Hima Health Centre.
“Health is both a cause and a consequence of poverty and wealth,†said Guilleme Roux, the president of the cement division in the Lafarge Group, the entity that owns the cement company.
He remarked that malaria also had an impact on the company, because it affected employees, their families, their customers and suppliers.
According to Roux, there were more than 500 million new cases of malaria every year, causing between one and three million deaths.
He added that two million deaths also occurred annually due to Tuberculosis while HIV/AIDS has claimed more than 20 million people in the last 20 years.
The Lafarge Group, which has been producing cement for the past 175 years, is the leading cement producer in Africa.
Speaking about the air pollution caused by cement dust from the plant, Roux said a new extension plant would be set up soon and the dust fumes would be no more.
“We are grateful to the Lafarge Group but we were planning to protest against the pollution,†said the Rev. Can. Julius Kithaghenda, the district chairman.
“But with the assurance that the fumes will stop soon, we are calling off the peaceful demonstration,†he added.
HIMA Cement has launched a two-year community malaria prevention campaign worth sh500m in Kasese district. The campaign will benefit at least 28,000 residents of Hima town.
The company is the leading private enterprise in the country in fighting malaria, according to the state minister for primary health care, James Kakooza, who presided over the launch on Thursday at Hima Health Centre.
“Health is both a cause and a consequence of poverty and wealth,†said Guilleme Roux, the president of the cement division in the Lafarge Group, the entity that owns the cement company.
He remarked that malaria also had an impact on the company, because it affected employees, their families, their customers and suppliers.
According to Roux, there were more than 500 million new cases of malaria every year, causing between one and three million deaths.
He added that two million deaths also occurred annually due to Tuberculosis while HIV/AIDS has claimed more than 20 million people in the last 20 years.
The Lafarge Group, which has been producing cement for the past 175 years, is the leading cement producer in Africa.
Speaking about the air pollution caused by cement dust from the plant, Roux said a new extension plant would be set up soon and the dust fumes would be no more.
“We are grateful to the Lafarge Group but we were planning to protest against the pollution,†said the Rev. Can. Julius Kithaghenda, the district chairman.
“But with the assurance that the fumes will stop soon, we are calling off the peaceful demonstration,†he added.