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Ghana is classified as being in the malaria control phase, according to the global malaria elimination program. With many years of policy development and control interventions, malaria specific mortality among children less than 5 years old has declined from 14.4% in 2000 to 0.6% in 2012. However, the same level of success has not been achieved wit...
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Context 1
... remains a serious health challenge in most of sub-Saharan Africa. [8] The West African sub-region, of which Ghana is a part (Figure 1), is estimated to have more than 300 million people at risk of malaria infection. Thus, the sub-region accounts for about half of the global bur- den. ...
Citations
... A nationwide survey in Ghana found that the average parasite prevalence among children aged 6 to 59 months was 28%. [11]. Malaria is also responsible for 40% of all out-patient visits in Ghana, with children under the age of five and pregnant women being the most vulnerable groups [12]. ...
Abstract Background Malaria remains a major public health concern around the world, particularly in resource-constrained countries. Malaria still accounts for 40% of all Out-Patient Department (OPD) cases in Ghana, with children under the age of five being the most vulnerable group. The study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of malaria preventive measures among mothers with children under 5 years old in a rural setting in Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional study design with a quantitative approach was used in this study. The study was facility based and involved the use of interviewer administered questionnaires to collect data from 281 mothers with children under the age of five. Simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents. The data collected was analysed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 22 and results presented in tables. Results There were 281 mothers, with 59.4% having children at the age of a year. The findings revealed that the majority of participants have a high level of knowledge about malaria’s causes, signs, and symptoms. Again, the majority of participants demonstrated a positive attitude toward malaria prevention, such as seeking treatment at a hospital within 24 h of suspecting their children had malaria and demonstrating good knowledge of malaria prevention practices. Despite this, 35.5% of respondents were not actively engaged in malaria prevention practices in a day prior to the interview. Respondents’ occupation, level of education, and religion had a statistically significant association with mothers’ attitude towards prevention (p-values
... It is a major cause of illness and death particularly among children and pregnant women. The disease is endemic in Ghana, accounting for 40% of all outpatient visits to hospital (Awine, Malm, Bart-Plange, & Silal, 2017) and it has been reported that households spent between US$5.70 on uncomplicated malaria and US$48.73 on severe in Ghana (Nonvignon et al., 2016). Statistics shows that between 3.1 and 3.5 million cases of clinical malaria are reported in public health facilities each year, of which 900,000 cases are in children under five years. ...
Background: Several studies have linked malaria to ABO blood groups with still others reporting insignificant association between ABO blood group system and malaria. Blood group 'O' has been shown to confer protection against severe malaria by studies in various populations but indecisive reports have been given about non-O blood groups in relation to their protection or vulnerability to severe malaria.
... 7 Ghana has made great progress in malaria control over the years, with the scale-up of various control measures such as indoor residual spraying, insecticide-treated bed nets and the use of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) for effective case management of malaria, all contributing to a decrease in malaria morbidity and mortality. 8 Between January and September 2022, a total of 3 745 398 confirmed malaria infections were recorded in Ghana out of 7 749 627 tests conducted, thus showing a decrease when compared with the 4 133 020 recorded in 2021. Also, a reduction in malaria deaths was recorded, from 196 in 2021 to 120 in 2022. ...
Background:
The control of asymptomatic malaria is considered a key aspect of malaria control. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception of asymptomatic malaria among people in Ho municipality of the Volta region.
Methods:
A descriptive cross-sectional study involving questionnaire administration was conducted among randomly sampled residents of the Ho municipality of the Volta region of Ghana. Using SPSS version 25 statistical software, frequency distributions and proportions were computed for sociodemographic variables while knowledge and perception about asymptomatic malaria were computed into percentages and categorized into three levels based on Bloom's cut-off for further analysis. Findings with p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results:
Among the 200 participants, 197 (98.5%) were aware of malaria. The majority (116 [58.0%]) of the study participants agreed to the possibility of asymptomatic infection, but most (133 [66.5%]) of the community members did not know that asymptomatic individuals can still transmit infections. The majority of the participants (184 [92.0%]) showed interest in getting further education on asymptomatic malaria and a significant majority (180 [90.0%]) expressed a willingness to take treatment after testing positive without showing any symptoms.
Conclusions:
Asymptomatic malaria control can be achieved through a mass testing and treatment strategy, therefore improving the knowledge and perception about asymptomatic malaria might improve malaria control.
... Mathematical models have specifically proven to be more useful than statistical models in studying the factors influencing the transmission dynamics of malaria because of their increased predictive computational capability (Li & Liu, 2020;Marshall et al., 2018;Sweilam et al., 2020). These models can be formulated using experimental data and biological knowledge (Awine et al., 2017;Marshall et al., 2018). Specifically, compartmentalized epidemiological mathematical model variants can be represented using continuous modeling constructs such as Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs), Fractional Differential Equations, and the Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) (Almeida et al., 2021;Edeki et al., 2020;Handari et al., 2020;Tchoumi et al., 2021). ...
Malaria importation is one of the hypothetical drivers of malaria transmission dynamics across the globe. Several studies on malaria importation focused on the effect of the use of conventional malaria control strategies as approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) on malaria transmission dynamics but did not capture the effect of the use of traditional malaria control strategies by vigilant humans. In order to handle the aforementioned situation, a novel system of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) was developed comprising the human and the malaria vector compartments. Analysis of the system was carried out to assess its quantitative properties. The novel computational algorithm used to solve the developed system of ODEs was implemented and benchmarked with the existing Runge-Kutta numerical solution method. Furthermore, simulations of different vigilant conditions useful to control malaria were carried out. The novel system of malaria models was well-posed and epidemiologically meaningful based on its quantitative properties. The novel algorithm performed relatively better in terms of model simulation accuracy than Runge-Kutta. At the best model-fit condition of 98% vigilance to the use of conventional and traditional malaria control strategies, this study revealed that malaria importation has a persistent impact on malaria transmission dynamics. In lieu of this, this study opined that total vigilance to the use of the WHO-approved and traditional malaria management tools would be the most effective control strategy against malaria importation.
... Vaccines have been proven to be an efficacious means of preventing disease and death, hence the need for the new malaria vaccine (RTS, S also known as Mosquirix) as essential tools to eradicate malaria [1]. Ghana has achieved tremendous success in the fight against malaria through its existing interventions (medications targeting the parasite and vector control activities) by significantly reducing morbidity and mortality related to malaria [12]. However, malaria remains a major health threat as the country continues to experience a significant malaria disease burden [13]. ...
Background: Malaria is a disease of public health concern and in endemic areas, pregnant women and children under-five years are vulnerable to the disease. The introduction of the pilot program of a malaria vaccine for children under-five years in Ghana is an intervention to further reduce the burden of the disease. However, the availability of the vaccine does not necessarily mean it will be accepted by the public. This is why the perceptions and acceptance of the vaccine among mothers of these children are worth exploring.
Method: A descriptive qualitative study, with the aid of a semi-structured interview guide, was utilized in collecting data from ten (10) purposively sampled mothers whose children were taking the malaria vaccine in a municipality in Ghana. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim and inductively analyzed into themes describing their perceptions and acceptance.
Results: Participants were aged between 22 and 40 years with eight (8) of them married. Three themes emerged from the study. "Awareness of malaria and the malaria vaccine" (1),“Insight into the malaria vaccine” (2), where participants communicated the beliefs and judgments formed on the vaccine, its benefits, and the need for vaccinating their children. With the third theme "Reaction to vaccine” (3), participants communicated their motivation to vaccinate their children and their concerns about the administration of the vaccine.
Conclusion: The caregivers had positive perceptions about the malaria vaccine for children, with fewer hospital admissions and saving money as some benefits. Health workers played a significant role in influencing the acceptance of the vaccine. However, the fear of the unknown concerning the side effects of the vaccine serves as a possible barrier to recommending the vaccine to other caregivers. Health education must also address the fears of caregivers in order to enhance recommending the malaria vaccine to other caregivers and promote uptake of the vaccination.
... In Ghana, the number of malaria cases recorded at outpatient departments (OPDs) in 2017 was 399,736 compared to 383,034 in 2016 (Awine et al. 2017) among pregnant women. This figure represents an increase of 4.2% over the 2016-recorded number of cases among pregnant women. ...
Background
Globally, a significant proportion of women in areas with a high malaria burden are susceptible to the risk of malaria during pregnancy. The Ghana Health Service adopted an antimalarial policy that states that intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy using sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) shall be administered as directly observed therapy (DOT) monthly during antenatal care (ANC) until delivery. This study, therefore, examined the effect of individual, household and health related factors on the uptake of optimal doses of IPTp-SP for malaria in pregnancy in Ghana.
Methods
Data for this study were obtained from the 2019 Ghana Malaria Indicator Survey (GMIS) conducted between September 25 and November 24, 2019. The weighted sample comprised 353 pregnant women aged 15–49 years. Data were analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 using both descriptive and multinomial logistic regression modelling.
Results
The study found that 30.5% of pregnant women took optimal (≥ 3) doses of IPTp-SP to prevent malaria. Pregnant women aged 15–24 (aOR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.09–0.71) were 75% less likely to take optimal doses of IPTp-SP at health facilities than those aged 35–39. Similarly, pregnant women at 16 weeks of gestation (aOR = 0.40,95% CI = 0.20–0.80) were 60% less likely to take 3 or more SP doses than those between the gestational period 24 to 40 weeks. Again, pregnant women who tested negative for malaria (aOR = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.09–0.32) had lower odds of taking up 1–2 SP doses and 3 or more SP doses (aOR = 0.01, 95% CI = 0.04–0.43) than those who tested positive for malaria. Pregnant women who are not anaemic were 87% and 92% less likely to take 1–2 and 3 or more SP doses, respectively, to prevent malaria during pregnancy relative to pregnant women who are anaemic. However, pregnant women residing in urban areas were more likely (aOR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.01–4.90) to take optimal IPTp-SP doses than those dwelling in rural areas.
Conclusions
Significant reduction of malaria in pregnancy is highly determined by socio-demographic and health factors that affect pregnant women and crucial to the success of Ghana’s antimalarial drug policy. It is therefore recommended that the Ministry of Health, National Malaria Elimination Programme and Ghana Health Service take cognizance of these factors in planning and rolling out programmes towards improving IPTp-SP drug uptake among pregnant women.
... Though the transmission of malaria has declined significantly in recent years, malaria still remains a major public health burden in Ghana [33]. Generally, reliable and accessible area-specific information on malaria transmission is not available for the selected communities in the Central region of Ghana where this study was conducted. ...
Purpose
Anaemia remains a serious concern among pregnant women, and thus, it is closely monitored from the onset of pregnancy through to delivery to help prevent adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. In malaria-endemic settings, continuous low-level carriage of P.falciparum parasites is common and its contribution to maternal anaemia should not be underestimated. In this study, we evaluated the impact of adherence to malaria control measures [number of antenatal clinics (ANC) attended, supervised intake of sulphadoxine pyrimethamine (SP), and use of insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs)] on asymptomatic malaria and anaemia outcomes among pregnant women on ANC in hospitals in the Central region of Ghana.
Methods
The study was conducted during two seasons; October–November 2020 (dry season, n = 124) and May–June 2021 (rainy season, n = 145). Among the women, there was a high adherence to the control measures for both seasons (ANC ≥ 3 visits; ~ 82.0%, intake of SP; ~ 80.0% and ITNs use; ~ 75.0%).
Results
Asymptomatic P. falciparum carriage was high for both seasons (44.4% for the dry season; 46.9% for the rainy season). Correspondingly, the occurrence of anaemia was high for both seasons (57.3% for the dry season; 68.3% for the rainy season) and was strongly predicted by carriage of P. falciparum parasites. Despite the high adherence to ANC protocols, asymptomatic P. falciparum infection was common and contributed to the high burden of maternal anaemia.
Conclusions
Our findings emphasize the need for improved control measures that can clear asymptomatic/sub-microscopic P. falciparum infection and protect against malaria-induced anaemia among pregnant women attending ANC in malaria endemic-settings.
... Malaria mortality in children have decreased by 40% since 2000, but children under the age of five still accounts for 78% of global malaria mortality, or 456000 a year [5]. This translates to over 1,200 children dying from malaria every day and 50 children dying every hour [6]. ...
Introduction: The goal of the study was to assess the factors that influence the utilization of Insecticide Treated bed Nets (ITN) in the prevention of malaria in the Berekum East Municipality. Methods: Quantitative cross sectional design was used to conduct the study in the Berekum East Municipality. Total of 307 respondents aged between 20-60 years were randomly selected for data collection with the aid of a questionnaire. Data were analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the factors influencing ITN use at 95% confidence interval. Results: The study found that 87.6% of the respondents owned ITN; however 28% of them used it regularly while 72% use it irregularly. Only 12.4% of the respondents did not use ITN because they did not have them. Majority of the respondents (94.4%) had sufficient knowledge about INT. The reasons that prevented the people from using the ITN included inconvenienced sleeping under them, skin rashes and heat intolerance. The key predictors of appropriate use of ITN were education level, the number of occupants per room, the structure of the room and the knowledge level and the availability of ITNs. Age range 20-30 year had odds ratio of 1.633 of using ITN than other age groups. Likewise, people with tertiary education had OR 2.036 ITN usage more than other educational categories. Conclusion: There was high ITN ownership with poor usage. Strengthening health education of the benefits and importance of ITN use will improve appropriate utilization of ITN among the people of Berekum Municipality.
... Background Malaria continues to be endemic and perennial in all parts of Ghana, with seasonal variations that are more pronounced in the north despite the efforts by the governments of Ghana to mitigate its prevalence [1]. Children under five years of age and pregnant women are at higher risk of severe illness due to lowered immunity [2]. ...
... Although Ghana is considered to be in the control phase, the malaria incident rate continues to rise annually in many parts of the country [1]. The trend of malaria cases in this study increased progressively from 6.7 to 55.4% from February to November with significant rises in October (47.8%) and November (55.4%). ...
Background
Even though malaria is easily preventable and treatable, it continues to have a devastating impact on people’s health and livelihoods around the world. Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. This study seeks to assess the prevalence, trends and factors associated with malaria in the Shai-Osudoku District Hospital, Ghana.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence, trend, and factors associated with malaria in the Shai-Osudoku District Hospital; a 10-month secondary data was extracted from February to November 2020. The extracted data were entered into Epi Data version 6 and analysed using STATA version 16. Descriptive analysis was performed to determine the prevalence, trend and socio-demographic characteristics of study participants. Simple logistic regression at a 95% confidence level was performed to investigate socio-demographic factors associated with malaria infection. Tables and charts with summary statistics were used to present the results.
Results
Secondary data from 3896 individuals were included in the study. The age of the participants range from 0.8 to 101 years with a mean age of 32.5. The estimated prevalence of malaria during the study period is 20.9%. A majority (79.1%) of the participants who presented signs and symptoms of malaria were negative after testing. The prevalence of malaria cases increased progressively from 6.7 to 55.4% across the ten months. The simple logistic regression at a 95% confidence level revealed that age group, sex, residential status, religion, occupation and marital status were statistically significantly associated with malaria. The results shows that persons who tested positive for malaria were mostly treated with artemether-lumefantrine (46.1%), some malaria positive cases were given artesunate injection (11.6%), dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (16.2%) and oral artemether-lumefantrine (6.5%). Surprisingly 19.6% of the malaria-positive cases were not given any form of malaria medication.
Conclusion
Factors found to influence malaria infection in the Shai-Osudoku District Hospital include participant’s age, sex, residential status, religious affiliation occupation and marital status. The findings of this study showed that malaria remains a serious public health problem in the Shai Osudoku District Hospital. The information obtained from this study can guide the implementation of malaria prevention, control and elimination strategies in Ghana.
... The strategies of the national malaria control program are still in use in Ghana; however, the program is challenged by the inability to quantify its impacts and also, by the cost of implementation of the interventions 16 . ...
