Ghana Makes Strides In Malaria Fight, Yet Challenges Persist

Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea

 

Despite a remarkable 97% reduction in malaria-related deaths over the past decade, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, reading on behalf of the Minister of Health, emphasised that malaria remains a significant public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to him, Ghana’s National Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan (2023-2028) has set bold but achievable goals.

He said this at the commemoration of the 2025 World Malaria Day, themed, “Malaria Ends with Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite”.

Highlighting the key achievements, he stated that, there have been reduction of 51% in 2024 malaria-related deaths compared to 2022, 36% drop in under-five malaria case fatality rate in 2024 as compared to 2022, declines in both malaria admissions and outpatient cases and steady rollout of the malaria vaccine, with over 70% coverage for the first dose.

“We still continue to expand effective interventions such as indoor residual spraying, insecticide treated nets distribution, seasonal malaria chemoprevention, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnancy, case management, malaria vaccines and other new interventions to reach the 2028 target of zero malaria,” he said.

“Let us rise with boldness to reinvest, unite to reimagine a Ghana where every sector is a malaria elimination champion, and act with renewed urgency to reignite the will of the people to end malaria,” he urged.

On behalf of Director-General, Director of Public Health Division, GHS, Dr. Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, noted that, the theme, “Malaria Ends with Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite,” emphasises the urgent need to invest resources and efforts to sustain recent gains, reimagine innovative strategies to tackle emerging challenges, and reignite the passion and commitment of all individuals to end malaria.

He stated that, outpatient department cases have also seen a 3% decline, while hospital admissions due to malaria have fallen by 17%.

According to him, the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) campaign was successfully implemented across 28 districts, and through collaborative effort and strong field coordination, an impressive coverage rate of 53% has been successful.

“We successfully distributed over 19 million insecticide-treated nets during the recent mass campaign. We did this with a renewed focus on rationalised distribution, targeting urban and rural households with precision and efficiency,” he noted.

In addition, over 1.9 million children through five cycles of seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Savannah, Oti, and five districts in Bono East have been reached.

“Outpatient malaria cases among children under five have dropped from 350 per 1,000 population in 2021 to 269 per 1,000 in 2024. Malaria admissions in children under five have also reduced significantly from 3,824 to 2,543 per 100,000 population. Most importantly, malaria-related deaths in children under five have dropped from 59 in 2021 to just nine in 2024,” he disclosed.

Officer in Charge, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Sally-Ann Ohene, stated that, Ghana has made commendable strides in the fight against malaria, from sustained gains in promoting and providing insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying, as well as diagnostic and treatment services.

According to her, malaria still remains one of the leading causes of outpatient attendance and under-five mortality in Ghana.

“Across Africa, nearly 600,000 lives are still lost each year and most of them are children. Climate change, drug and insecticide resistance, emergence of invasive vectors, urbanisation and funding gaps threaten to reverse the progress we have fought so hard to achieve, but there is hope and opportunity,” she reiterated.

“In 2023, global malaria investments stood at just $4 billion, far short of the $10 billion needed annually. Study shows that reducing malaria by 90% by 2030 could boost the Gross Domestic Product across endemic countries by over $143 billion,” she noted.

By Janet Odei Amponsah

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