NMCP strategises to eliminate malaria in Ghana

The National Malaria Control Programme has designed several strategies to eliminate malaria in the country.

The plans include the drawing up of the 2024–2028 malaria Elimination Strategic Plan for all districts targeted at quality case management, surveillance and research.

The Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme, Keziah Malm, disclosed this at a press briefing in Accra.

Dr. Malm said, “In very low-burden districts, there will be mass drug administration, single low-dose primaquine administration enhanced entomological surveillance, enhanced epidemiological surveillance, reactive case detection and active case detection and response.

“In moderate to high burden districts (zones), there would be indoor residual spraying, seasonal malaria chemoprevention, malaria vaccination, post-discharge malaria chemoprevention and intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in school children,” she stressed.

She pointed out that malaria is a major public health and socioeconomic problem as well as a leading cause of morbidity in Ghana, particularly among children under the age of five and pregnant women.

On the benefit of eliminating malaria from Ghana, Dr. Malm stated that Ghana could gain US$ 32 billion, avert 86 million clinical malaria cases, avert 51 million reported cases and 4468 deaths.