Source: newsthemegh.com
Ghana’s rural areas have a three times higher prevalence of malaria than its metropolitan areas, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
According to microscopy data from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), the prevalence of malaria in children between the ages of 6 and 59 months is 8.6%.
In comparison to urban areas, where the prevalence of malaria is 4.3%, rural areas have a malaria prevalence of 12.8%.
On April 25, 2023, the Ghana Statistics Service issued a statement in honor of World Malaria Day with the following message: “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, develop, implement.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that World Malaria Day is an opportunity to emphasize the importance of ongoing financial support and ongoing political commitment to combating malaria.
According to data from the GSS, Greater Accra has the lowest frequency of malaria at 2.0%, followed by Western North at 4.4%) and Volta at 6.4%).
According to the results of the microscopy, Oti (15%), the Upper West (13%) and the Upper East (12%) regions have the greatest rates of malaria prevalence. Overall, malaria prevalence is above 10% in half of the 16 regions.
According to the survey data, the prevalence of malaria in children has decreased over the previous eight years, dropping from 26.7% in 2014 to 8.6% in 2022, a decrease of more than a third.
Administrative data from the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS) given by the Ghana Health Service shows that the prevalence rate of malaria among pregnant women has likewise decreased, going from 3.3% in 2019 to 2.4% in 2022.
The Oti Region, with a prevalence of 7.0%, and the Savannah Region, with a prevalence of 5.4%, are the only two regions with malaria prevalence levels that are higher than the national average in 2022. The Greater Accra Region, with a frequency of 0.2%, has the lowest rate of pregnant women.
Overall, from 6.1 million cases in 2019 to 5.2 million cases in 2022, the number of Outpatient Department (OPD) malaria cases reported in DHIMS decreased.
With 73,782 instances, the East Mamprusi area in the North East Region has the most OPD malaria patients, followed by Jaman North with 63,776 cases and Jaman South with 55,672 cases, all in the Bono Region. In 2022, there would be over 10,000 OPD malaria cases in 211 of 261 districts, or eight out of every ten districts.
The 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey Main Results Report will be made public in May 2023, according to the GSS.