Ghana has made gains in malaria morbidity as its prevalence among children under five years has dropped from 21% in 2016 to 14% in 2019.
This is according to the 2019 Ghana Malaria Indicator survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Programme.
The survey was conducted throughout the country within a period of 60 days.
Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in Ghana, with more of the victims being children under five. Over two million suspected malaria cases were presented in health facilities across the country between January and March but only about one million were confirmed to be malaria.
According to the Health Service, the country has recorded a total of 54 malaria deaths between January and March in 2020 alone. Sixteen of these deaths were among children under five years.
Speaking in an interview with Radio Ghana, the Assistant Chief Statistician and Director of Field Operations at the Ghana Statistical Service, Peter Takyi attributed the decline to an increase in sleeping in treated bed nets, which he said accounts for 74%.
Meanwhile, an Epidemiologist with the National Malaria Control Programme, Dr. Nana Yaw Peprah says the programme is happy with the successes chalked up but says they will not be complacent. He said the programme is working on interventions to reduce or completely eradicate morbidity rate of the disease.
