The communities around the gold-mining town of Obuasi have had to be fumigated for the first time. Ghana’s rainy season was late and the soaring temperatures provided the perfect breeding conditions for mosquitoes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that climate change will see a devastating increase in malaria deaths. And countries that have eradicated the disease could see a deadly return, including parts of Europe. Progress against malaria has stalled in recent years and there are fears changing weather patterns will hamper that fight even more.
Samuel Asiedu is the programme director at AGAMal, an NGO that is now having to spray insecticide inside and outside homes to try to rid Obuasi of malarial mosquitoes.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk, he said: ‘We were expecting the rains to come much earlier so the temperature would have reduced.
‘It has now become the right environment for the mosquito and we are seeing a lot around. ‘We are now trying to fumigate the townships to bring the mosquito population down but it is a temporary measure. ‘We are having to add an extra stage of protection and that’s more costs.
‘Who will pay for it?’ Fumigation has costed $25,000 (£20,000) so far but the average salary in Ghana is less than $2 a day. For charities, every cent counts.
Samuel Asiedu says AGAMal is now having to do an extra stage of protection against mosquitoes because of climate change (Picture: Tom Pilston / Malaria No More UK)