Growing up in the fishing village of Chorkor in Ghana’s Greater Accra region, 46-year-old Mary* experienced regular bouts of malaria. “I remember the fever, the profuse sweating and chills that shook my entire body, and I never want to go through that again,” she says. 

But since Mary received a free long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito net from Ghana Health Services, which has been distributing the nets to affected communities with support from partners including World Health Organization (WHO), she has no longer had to worry.

“With sustained efforts the burden of malaria can be further reduced, and the goal of pre-elimination be realized.” – Dr Felicia Owusu-Antwi, National Professional Officer for Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at WHO

Over the past 10 years, WHO has been instrumental in curbing new malaria infections and deaths in Ghana by providing the country with technical support, helping to develop its national guidelines and trainings on case management and management of malaria in pregnancy.

“The technical support and leadership that WHO has provided has led to a number of critical interventions and partnerships,” says Dr Keziah Malm, Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme. 

Ghana has also been part of a pilot malaria vaccine programme coordinated by WHO, which was first launched by the government of Malawi in 2019 and has already seen more than 1 million children vaccinated in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.

Ghana’s various malaria interventions have yielded a resoundingly positive impact in recent years. Most notably, 275 deaths from the disease were recorded in 2021 compared to 1264 in 2016 and 2799 in 2012. This equates to around eight people dying from malaria every day in 2012 compared with less than one a day today. Malaria related health facility admissions have also seen a 28% reduction overall since 2012.

“Malaria control in Ghana has seen much improvement with significant reduction in the burden of disease,” says Dr Felicia Owusu-Antwi, National Professional Officer for Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at WHO. “With sustained efforts the burden of malaria can be further reduced, and the goal of pre-elimination be realized.”

*Name changed to protect their privacy