World Malaria Day is marked annually on April 25 to raise awareness of the continued threat posed by the mosquito-borne disease. Despite being preventable and curable, malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases in many parts of the world, causing 619,000 deaths and 247 million new cases in 2021 alone. 95% of all malaria cases occur in the World Health Organisation (WHO) African Region, with 80% of malaria deaths in the region being among children under the age of five.
WHO is calling for urgent action to reduce malaria cases and deaths and meet the global targets of reducing malaria case incidence and mortality rates by 90% or more by 2030. In Ghana, malaria is endemic and affects the entire population, with 5.3 million malaria cases and 12,500 deaths recorded in 2021.
The country is one of the 15 highest burden malaria countries in the world, but made significant progress in malaria control between 2017 to 2020, with cases decreasing by 19%. However, deaths remained similar over the same period. Ghana's malaria prevention strategies include the use of insecticide-treated nets, nationwide intermittent preventive treatment, and seasonal malaria chemoprevention.
The country has also launched a malaria vaccine implementation program to reduce malaria mortality by 90% by 2025 and achieve malaria pre-elimination in at least six districts by the same year.
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