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Ghana has recorded a 45 per cent reduction in malaria cases among children under five, the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) has said.
Dr Kezia Malm, the Programme Manager, NMEP, told the Ghana News Agency that the reduction was due to the roll-out of malaria vaccines into routine immunisation, which had saved the lives of many children. Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in Ghana, with more of the victims being children under five.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) malaria prevalence among children under five has decreased by over a third from 26.7 per cent in 2014 to 8.6 per cent in 2022. Children under five years of age are particularly vulnerable, accounting for the highest burden of malaria-related morbidity and mortality.
As part of efforts to tackle this important public health crisis, the NMEP implemented different control strategies, including the piloting of malaria vaccines for children under five. Ghana took a significant step towards eliminating the disease with the rollout of the malaria vaccines, starting with a pilot, to reduce severe cases in the country.
The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine was the second vaccine recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for preventing malaria in endemic areas. Dr Malm said the vaccines were deployed in 43 malaria-endemic districts, including Upper West, Northern, Savannah, and Western North regions.
At the end of 2022, 1.3 million doses of the vaccine had been administered to children, which was very encouraging for a new vaccine that was being piloted. The four-dose malaria vaccines are being administered to children under two years as part of the routine immunisation schedule, and it’s given to them at six months of age, seven months, nine months, and 18 months.
She said the expansion of the vaccines into other districts and the routine immunisation programme became necessary due to fhe success achieved in the piloting. “Due to the success of the vaccines in Ghana, other countries, including Kenya and Malawi, also began their implementation,” she added. Dr Malm said two years into the piloting, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation included the malaria vaccines into the routine immunisation programme and was currently being implemented in 135 districts.
“So far, so good. We are seeing 80 per cent coverage for the third dose. And that’s really encouraging. We have been able to get a considerable number of people to come back for the fourth dose, which is happening in the second year of life,” she added. The NMEP said the vaccines had proven to be efficacious amidst all other interventions and had reduced the burden of confirmed malaria cases in the country.
Ghana’s immunisation programme has been supported by Gavi since 2001, achieving many successes in immunisation coverage. As the country prepares to transition from the Gavi support, the NMEP Manager was hopeful that Ghana’s plan of eventually being self-sufficient in the immunisation programme would be successful to sustain the gains made to eliminate malaria in the country.
“That plan is being led by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance to make sure that we’re able to follow the roadmap to be able to be self-sufficient by 2030,” Dr Malm said.
Source: GNA
