Number of malaria cases in Ghana 2010-2022

In Ghana, around 5.2 million people were diagnosed with malaria in 2022, which was a drop from the previous year which had reported close to 5.8 million of such cases. Within the period studied, the number of confirmed cases of the illness fluctuated heavily. Moreover, malaria is reported as mostly affecting children under the age of five in Ghana.

Around 5.2 million people were diagnosed with malaria in Ghana in 2022, a drop from the previous year which had close to 5.8 million such cases. Within the period studied, the number of confirmed cases of the illness fluctuated heavily. Moreover, malaria mostly affects children under the age of five in Ghana. 

Distinct variation in the reported number of deaths

The number of diagnosed malaria cases in Ghana is high but has decreased over the years. This is accompanied by deaths from the illness, although there are significant discrepancies in value based on the methodology used. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that approximately 340 individuals in the country died in the same year due to the disease, whereas the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that malaria killed 21,600 people. The methods used to determine the cause of death produced different estimations. For example, the IHME often relies on so-called 'verbal autopsies' to compile death-toll estimates, in contrast to the WHO, which relies on the stated cause of death.

Malaria’s impact across Africa

In 2022, Ghana had the eleventh-highest number of confirmed cases of malaria in Africa. By comparison, DR Congo and Nigeria had the highest number of confirmed cases that year, at about 27 million and 23 million, respectively. Although the overall count of people dying from malaria in Africa has decreased since 2010, the illness ranked seventh among the continent's top ten causes of death in 2019, causing an average of 388 deaths per 100,000 people.