Ghana is making incredible strides in its fight to eliminate malaria by launching the Parliamentary Caucus on Malaria. The caucus, comprising members of parliament from both the majority and opposition, seeks to strengthen collaboration and advocacy in support of national malaria elimination priorities. The platform will collaborate with the Ministry of Health to ensure more strategic use of data to deploy tools for maximum impact and ensure alignment of partners and engagement of sectors beyond health.

The launch of the parliamentary caucus in July builds on Ghana’s 2019 launch of the Zero Malaria Starts With Me campaign, which calls on everyone from village leaders to musicians, mayors, CEOs, journalists, artists and celebrities, Presidents and Parliamentarians to make a personal commitment to step up the fight against the disease.

Malaria remains a significant public health concern in Ghana despite recent progress in control and prevention interventions. In 2021, there were 5 million malaria cases including at least 390,000 hospital admissions due to malaria.

However, Ghana is stepping up the fight against malaria. The National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) recently launched its National Strategic Plan (2021-2025), which aims to reduce malaria mortality by 90 percent and malaria case incidence by 50 percent, by 2025. In support of the NMCP, the new cross-parliamentary caucus supports the country’s malaria elimination efforts based on the one health approach framework. The framework acknowledges shared interests, sets common goals, and drives toward teamwork to benefit the overall health of a nation.