By Jones Anlimah
The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) is urging government, development partners, civil society, the media, researchers, and communities to intensify efforts to eliminate malaria in Ghana.
Marking World Malaria Day 2026 today, April 25, AMMREN says that while malaria remains one of Ghana’s leading public health challenges, its elimination is within reach if all stakeholders act with urgency and commitment
In a statement issued in Accra on Saturday under the theme, “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can, Now We Must,” the network noted that malaria continues to affect millions of Ghanaians each year, with children under five, pregnant women, low-income households, and underserved communities bearing the greatest burden.
AMMREN said beyond its impact on health, malaria also affects school attendance, labour productivity, household incomes, and national development.
The network stressed that Ghana already has the tools, knowledge, and proven interventions needed to defeat the disease. However, it said stronger leadership, sustained financing, strategic coordination, and increased domestic investment are needed to translate commitments into measurable outcomes.
According to AMMREN, the government’s Free Primary Health Care initiative offers a significant opportunity to expand access to malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services, particularly for people in rural, underserved, and hard-to-reach communities.
It said effective implementation of the policy could reduce delays in seeking care, lower malaria-related illness and deaths, cut out-of-pocket healthcare costs for families, and accelerate progress towards Ghana’s malaria elimination targets.
AMMREN is therefore calling for increased domestic funding for malaria control and elimination, as well as uninterrupted supplies of insecticide-treated nets, rapid diagnostic test kits, and quality-assured antimalarial medicines across all levels of healthcare delivery.
The network also wants community health workers to be adequately trained, equipped, and supported to deliver timely prevention, testing, treatment, and referral services, especially in remote communities.
It further emphasised the need for robust real-time data systems to help track cases, identify transmission hotspots, respond swiftly to outbreaks, and inform evidence-based decision-making.
AMMREN underscored the importance of sustained public education and behaviour change campaigns to encourage the regular use of mosquito nets, proper environmental sanitation, elimination of mosquito breeding sites, prompt testing before treatment, early healthcare seeking, and strict adherence to prescribed medication.
The network also called on journalists, researchers, and advocates to play a more active role in combating misinformation, promoting healthy behaviours, highlighting gaps in malaria response efforts, and keeping malaria elimination high on the national development agenda.
AMMREN reiterated that malaria is preventable, treatable, and eliminable, and urged all stakeholders to work together to achieve Ghana’s malaria elimination agenda.
“Now we can. Now we must,” the statement said.
