The testing for Malaria has dropped from 38 percent in 2012 to 98-point 2 percent in 2023 while malaria prevalence has been reduced from 27 percent in 2011 to 8.6 percent to 2022. For malaria deaths, it has significantly reduced from 2799 in 2012 to 1046 in year 2023. This the Director General of the Ghana health Service says amplifies the hope that malaria can be eliminated in Ghana by year 2030.
Globally about 43 countries have successfully eliminated malaria, with Cape Verde being the most recent third African Country after Mauritius and Algeria, to have been certified by the WHO as malaria-free. Therefore, Ghana can also do same with improved service delivery and attitudinal change towards malaria elimination.
As part of the strategies to eliminate malaria, the Ghana health service through the National Malaria Elimination program (NMEP) is expanding malaria intervention to include mass drug administration, intermittent treatment of malaria in schools and scaling up of malaria vaccine RTSs as recommended by the WHO. This is by adding the other 43 comparator districts to increase the communities implanting the vaccine.
Development partners are applauding the Ghana Health Service and the elimination program for scaling up malaria interventions in Ghana.
On the 2024 World Malaria Day, the call is for all countries to strengthen their malaria response by increasing investment in research and development of new tools.
Ghana’s theme “Health equity the corner stone for malaria elimination in Ghana”, reflects the core strategies of the National Malaria Elimination program that seeks to ensure that all persons in the country have access to malaria interventions.
