Ghana to join Malawi and Kenya in a coordinated pilot program for malaria vaccine

Ghana will join Malawi and Kenya to take part in the World Health Organisation (WHO) coordinated pilot program for malaria vaccine which has gone through more than 20 years of testing.

As Ghana has joined the rest of the world to mark malaria day which falls on April 25, some significant successes have been chalked over the last few years as Malaria prevalence has reduced from 50% in 2002 to 20.4 percent last year in 2016.

 

According to health experts this means Ghana is no more hyper-endemic for malaria.

 

The success has been attributed to the use of insecticide treated nets and in-door residual spraying.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana Malaria Foundation to commemorate World Malaria Day the Deputy Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Gloria Quansah said even though the country is doing well in combatting malaria, there are some challenges which need to be addressed.

 

 “despite these successes, there remain some challenges.”

 

“The challenge has got to do with the resistance in the use of the nets. Even though we have shown that using the nets would prevent the spread of malaria, still there are people who do not want to use it” she added.

 

First lady Rebecca Akufo Addo called for private sector support to close the funding gap with the effort to fight malaria.

 “by investing in the fight against malaria, you will be exercising your power to stop deaths due to malaria. At the same time, your investments will generate key returns as it will be a key driver for business growth.”