Data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicates that severe malaria admissions and related deaths have reduced across all age groups in the Ashanti Region. Admissions among persons aged five years and above decreased from 70,311 to 57,881, while deaths fell from 85 to 56 in the same group. For children under five, admissions dropped from 20,000 to 14,000, and deaths declined from 45 to 30.
The reduction is attributed to increased use of insecticide-treated nets, improved access to rapid diagnostic tests, and effective artemisinin-based combination therapies. The GHS also highlighted community health education campaigns as a key factor.
Dr. Emmanuel Tinkorang, Ashanti Regional Health Director, stated: 'We are encouraged by these trends, but we must sustain efforts to achieve elimination.' The region aims to reduce malaria incidence by 50% by 2028.
