Sleeping safely against malaria in Ghana
26 March 2008
Related pages: Ghana
country profile | Millennium
Development Goal 6: HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
 Malaria is by far the leading cause of death in Ghana. Around one-quarter of
children who die before their fifth birthday are killed by the disease, and it
claims the lives of many pregnant women too.
One very effective way of preventing malaria is by sleeping under nets that have
been treated with insecticide. In recent years, DFID has helped bring these bed
nets to some of Ghana's most at-risk groups. In addition, we have provided immunisation and vitamin
supplements.
Getting nets to women and babies
In 2006,
DFID spent £6 million to buy more than 1 million long-lasting, insecticidal nets (LLINS) for children under
2 years of age. This saved an estimated 10,000 lives.
The following year, DFID contributed a further £2.7 million, to provide about 600,000 bed nets
for pregnant women, new mothers, and children under 1. Thanks
to this extra funding, a total of around 900,000 infants and 500,000
pregnant women have been supplied with some 1.5 million lifesaving nets.
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The view from the ground
 Abena
Sono works as a programme assistant for DFID and was present during the 2007
anti-malaria campaign. She describes the
scenes at distribution points on the first day, as women and children
arrived to get immunised and pick up their nets:
"At the three sites I visited, health workers and volunteers were already at
work. The turnout was quite good: a large number of children had already
been immunised, with quite a number still waiting their turn. Incidentally,
this first day of the campaign happened to be the antenatal day at one of the
sites, so there was quite a showing of pregnant women and children."
DFID Ghana's deputy programme manager,
Yvonne Agbesi, also observed the 2007 campaign. On the second day,
she saw how immunisation was well underway in Greater Accra:
"We visited three immunisation sites located in a local school,
district health centre and a market. The sites had been provided with enough
supplies, and there was a systematic approach to delivering the vaccinations, with
immunised children having their fingers marked with
indelible ink. Birth registration officers were also stationed at some of the
sites, to provide free registration services."
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Keeping Ghana well covered
 Although
the campaign was a success - exceeding the targets on providing nets to children
- it didn't pass without obstacles. A delay in the shipment of some of the nets
(bought using non-DFID funds) meant that vouchers, exchangeable for nets at a
later date, had to be issued in some places.
Also, it remains crucial that the gains made are not lost and that Ghana's most
vulnerable people continue to receive protection - the aim of the campaign is to get all
pregnant women and children under 3 sleeping
beneath treated bed nets.
Ghana's health service will have an important role to play in ensuring that, in
the future, nets
are easily available to those who need them. To this end, there will be ongoing
routine distribution through child welfare clinics and antenatal care services. More people under bed nets
- and more people immunised - is vital if
Ghana is to meet Millennium Development Goals on health.
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Key facts
- Ghana’s child and maternal
mortality rates are high, standing at 111 per 1,000 births, and 560 per 100,000 live
births respectively.
- Malaria contributes significantly (26%) to mortality among children under
5 and is also a major cause of maternal deaths.
- Initial results from a rapid assessment survey conducted two weeks after the
2007 DFID campaign showed that about 1.1 million infants (as against the target of
900,000) had received bed nets, resulting in coverage of 120%.
Coverage for pregnant women was 76% of the target population.
- The 2007 annual report of the Ghana Health Service indicated that
the use of
insecticide treated nets (ITNs) for children under 5 increased to 32% in 2006
from 26% in the previous year, exceeding the target of 30%. ITN use
among pregnant women was also reported to have increased from 27% in 2005 to
46% in 2006.
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