Ghana Winning Fight Against Malaria. 10.4million Malaria Cases Recorded in 2016 Malaria Control Program Reveals

Ghana has made tremendous strides in the fight against the dreadful disease, malaria, the National Malaria Control Programme has announced.

It disclosed that in 2016, the country recorded 10.4 million suspected cases in out-patient departments in hospitals across the country — an increase over the 10.1 million suspected cases recorded in 2015 — representing an increase of around 2.5 percent.

This, officials of the Programme said, translates into approximately 28,607 cases seen per day in 2016 in all health facilities, compared to an average of approximately 27,908 of such cases seen each day in the country’s health facilities in 2015.

Dr. Constance Bart-Plange, manager of the National Malaria Control Programme made these announcements at the launch of the 2017 Indoor Residual Spray Programme in Karaga on Monday. He added that the country chalked all these improvements due to the proven malaria interventions adopted and implemented in the country.

Ghana in 2008 under the US Presidents’ Malaria Initiative piloted its full scale indoor residual spraying in five districts in the northern region. They include Bunkpurugu Yunyoo, East Mamprusi, Mamprugu Moaduri, West Mamprusi and Kumbungu districts.
Two additional districts, Karaga and Gushegu will be added to the exercise making it seven districts in the region.

But Dr. Bart-Plange said even though malaria-endemic countries have made incredible gain in the fight against malaria in the last decade, sustaining them will take extra efforts.