The 2016 Ghana Malaria Indicator Survey (GMIS) has revealed that malaria rates are declining among Children.
The results of the survey showed that the number of children affected with malaria has decreased from 27 percent in 2014 to 21 percent in 2016, representing one in five children aged six to 59 months is infected with malaria.
The report was produced by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), in collaboration with the Ghana National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Speaking at the official launch of the 2016 GMIS, Gloria Quansah-Asare, the Deputy Director of the GHS, disclosed that the GMIS 2016 was relevant and timely, especially for the GHS, because of the need to have accurate and current data for the Global Fund malaria grant application.
According to her, the findings of the survey would be helpful in appreciating the progress or otherwise in the fight against malaria.
She added that it would also be a starting point for further research, not only to GHS, but also to all the research institution in Ghana and beyond.
The Acting Government Statistician, Baah Wadieh, stated that the GMIS data collection commenced in October 2016 and ended in December 2016.
He added that 12 teams of interviewers and supervisors travelled throughout the country, visiting about 6,000 households, interviewing over 5,000 women and testing about 3,080 children for anaemia and malaria.
Mr Wadieh explained that malaria prevalence among children varies widely throughout the administrative regions of Ghana, ranging from five percent in Greater Accra to as high as 30 percent in Central and 31 percent in the Eastern Region.
Rural children, according to the government statistician, are twice as likely to be infected with malaria as urban children.
The survey shows that prevention practices are on the rise, as ownership of long-lasting insecticide treated mosquitoes nets (LLINs) has more than doubled in the last eight years, with more than seven in 10 households now owning an LLIN.
Among the high risk groups, half of pregnant women and 52 percent of children under five reported using an LLIN the night before the survey; this represents an increase from 39 percent of pregnant women and 43 percent of children under five in 2014.
The 2016 GMIS results highlight the need for improvement, as just three in 10 children have blood test to check for malaria infection before treatment, as recommended by NMCP of the GHS and the World Health Organisation, whilst less than half of women had heard or seen a malaria message in the six months before the survey.
In addition, among women who sought advice or treatment for malaria and took an anti-malarial, 36 percent had not provided a blood sample for malaria testing to confirm the diagnosis.
By Lawson Kwame Lugu