By Rachel Kakraba
The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) is calling for renewed national commitment, stronger partnerships, and sustained action to end malaria in Ghana. It says strengthening domestic investment in malaria control and elimination is non-negotiable as it will sustain intervention programmes such as the continuous availability of insecticide-treated nets, rapid diagnostic tests, and quality-assured antimalarial medicines across all levels of care.
These were contained in a statement issued and signed by the Executive Director of AMMREN, Dr. Charity Binka, to commemorate World Malaria Day 2026.
AMMREN notes that malaria continues to be one of the country’s leading public health challenges, affecting millions of people every year and placing the greatest burden on children under five, pregnant women, low-income households, and communities with limited access to health services. Beyond its toll on health, malaria, the statement adds, also affects school attendance, worker productivity, household incomes, and national development.
It therefore advocates that community health workers are trained, equipped, and supported to provide timely prevention, testing, referral, and treatment services, especially in remote areas. It adds that real-time data systems are mounted to track cases and identify hotspots for quick response to outbreaks and decision-making.
AMMREN says this year’s theme, “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can, Now We Must,” is a call for Ghana to intensify efforts and translate commitments into measurable results. It notes that the tools, knowledge, and proven interventions needed to eliminate malaria already exist and what is needed is stronger urgency, sustained leadership, strategic coordination, domestic resource mobilization, increased investment, and behavioural change to ensure lifesaving tools are accepted, adopted, and consistently used by every household and community in line with Ghana’s Malaria Elimination Agenda.
The statement says the rollout of Ghana’s Free Primary Health Care initiative presents a unique opportunity for Ghana to accelerate progress toward the Malaria Elimination Agenda by expanding equitable access to malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services, particularly in underserved, rural, and hard-to-reach communities. The policy, it further states, when implemented effectively, can reduce delays in care-seeking, lower malaria-related illness and deaths, reduce out-of-pocket costs for families, and move Ghana closer to its elimination targets.
AMMREN recognizes that malaria elimination is achievable if the government, development partners, civil society, the media, researchers, health professionals, and communities work together with a shared sense of urgency.
