Malaria is endemic in Ghana. It is the most common reason people go to a clinic, it is entirely treatable, and it kills people every year — almost always because treatment was delayed.
Ghanaians treat malaria the way people elsewhere treat a bad flu: annoying, familiar, and dealt with promptly. Newcomers treat it either as an exotic terror or as nothing at all. Neither is right.
This is general information, not medical advice
If you think you have malaria, get tested. Do not self-diagnose, and do not self-medicate on the basis of a website.
Avoiding it
Malaria is transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, which bite mainly between dusk and dawn.
- Sleep under a treated net if your room is not sealed and air conditioned. This is the single most effective measure.
- Use repellent in the evening. DEET or picaridin.
- Cover up after dark — long sleeves, long trousers.
- Fans help. Mosquitoes are weak fliers.
- Screens on windows, if the property has them. Worth asking about when viewing.
- Remove standing water around the house. Buckets, old tyres, plant saucers, blocked gutters. This is where they breed.
Prophylaxis is standard advice for short-term visitors and is normally prescribed before travel. It is not usually taken by long-term residents, who rely on avoidance plus prompt testing and treatment. Discuss this with a doctor rather than deciding from a website — the trade-offs differ by person and by length of stay.
Recognising it
Symptoms typically appear a week or more after infection:
- Fever, often coming and going
- Severe headache
- Chills and sweating
- Body aches and joint pain
- Fatigue
- Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite
It is easily mistaken for flu, dengue, typhoid or a bad hangover. That is exactly why testing matters rather than guessing.
Get tested the same day
If you have a fever in Ghana, get a malaria test. Rapid diagnostic tests are available at any pharmacy and most clinics, cost very little, and take fifteen minutes. Severe malaria can develop fast, and the difference between a routine illness and an emergency is usually how long someone waited.
Go to hospital immediately for confusion, difficulty breathing, repeated vomiting, seizures, or inability to keep fluids down.
Treatment
Treatment is with artemisinin-based combination therapy, prescribed after a positive test. It is inexpensive, widely available, and works quickly.
Finish the full course, even after you feel better on day two. Stopping early is how resistance develops and how you relapse.
Malaria treatment is covered by the NHIS. — NHIS and health insurance
Buy medicine from a registered pharmacy
Substandard and falsified antimalarials circulate in the region. Use a licensed pharmacy, look for FDA registration, and be sceptical of medicines sold from a table or in a trotro.
Other health basics
Vaccinations
Yellow fever is required for entry to Ghana, and the certificate is checked at the airport.
Commonly recommended: hepatitis A and B, typhoid, tetanus, meningococcal meningitis, and rabies for longer stays or rural work. Take advice from a travel clinic before you come.
Water and food
Drink sachet or bottled water rather than tap water. Busy food stalls with high turnover are safer than quiet ones. Hot, freshly cooked food is the general rule.
What to eat in Accra Water in Accra
Heat
Accra is hot and humid year round. Heat exhaustion is easy to walk into, particularly in your first weeks and particularly if you are exercising or working outdoors.
Drink more than you think you need, add salt back, and avoid the middle of the day until you have adjusted.
Sun
You are close to the equator. The sun is stronger than it feels under cloud cover, and harmattan haze does not stop it.
Harmattan
From roughly December to February, dry dust-laden wind blows down from the Sahara. It irritates airways, dries skin and eyes, and is genuinely difficult for people with asthma.
Moisturiser, lip balm, eye drops, and an inhaler kept topped up if you use one.
Road traffic
Statistically, this is the largest health risk you face in Accra — considerably larger than malaria for most residents.
Wear a seatbelt. Insist on a helmet on an okada, or do not get on. Avoid travelling long distances by road at night.
HIV and sexual health
Testing is widely available, free at many public facilities and through NGO-run centres. Antiretroviral treatment is provided through a national programme rather than through NHIS.
Condoms are sold everywhere, including at pharmacies and provision shops.
Where to go
Hospitals and clinics in Accra
Emergency: 112. National Ambulance Service: 193.
Be aware that ambulance response times in Accra vary considerably. In many situations, a taxi or a private car to the nearest hospital is faster, and that is what most people actually do.