Golden Star Resources Limited – Malaria Private Sector Case Study

Golden Star Resources Limited (GSR), a gold mining company with a 17-year history of gold production in Ghana—a country with a century-long history of gold production—ranks as one of the world’s largest producers of gold. GSR operates two mines in the Western Region of Ghana: Wassa and Prestea. The company employs 3,902 stadd, including 1,859 full-term and fixed-term employees and 2,043 third party contractors.

For more than a decade, GSR has incurred significant costs to dinance malaria treatment for its stadd and their dependents. Given the high prevalence of malaria in GSR mining communities, the corresponding employees’ high absenteeism rate due to malaria, and the dinancial impacts of treatment, the company chose a more cost-eddective approach by ramping up its malaria prevention strategy to lower its malaria burden

The distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) formed a major component of GSR’s enhanced strategy. In 2018, the company distributed 3,000 ITNs for stadd, their dependents, and the surrounding communities. They also provided insecticide sprays and protective clothing for stadd. The company tracks and reports data on employee malaria cases through its clinics, and provides malaria treatment services for employees and their dependents.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, UKAID

Date of Publication: December 30, 2020