Accra, Feb. 12, – Professor Samuel Kweku Dadzie, Associate Professor of Medical Entomology at the University of Ghana, emphasized that technology-enhanced Larval Source Management (LSM) is vital for speeding up malaria elimination in Ghana and throughout Africa.
He highlighted that vector-borne illnesses like malaria remain a pressing public health threat in tropical zones, with West Africa facing particular challenges. Tech-based solutions are crucial for reaching elimination goals.
Prof. Dadzie addressed a regional workshop hosted by Sora Technology alongside Ghana's National Malaria Elimination Programme in Accra, themed “From Mapping to Action: Tech-Enabled LSM for Malaria Elimination.”
The two-day event gathered experts from 13 African nations – Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Benin, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe – to exchange strategies and showcase effective practices.
The forum spotlighted Ghana's advances in tech-supported malaria control and the rising role of LSM amid threats like urban-adapted Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes.
Prof. Dadzie described LSM as targeting mosquito larvae in breeding water through larviciding and related methods. Ghana rolled out LSM five years ago under its National Malaria Elimination Programme, fully government-funded for long-term viability and embedded in the national strategy.
The program now incorporates cutting-edge tools like SORA Technologies' drone mapping. “One of the major challenges with larval source management has been implementation. It is very labour-intensive because people have to physically search for mosquito breeding sites,” he noted.
AI and drones have revolutionized mapping, habitat detection, and species identification, slashing manpower needs. “Instead of deploying large numbers of people, drones can now be used to map breeding sites efficiently and support targeted interventions,” he added.
Ghana Health Service Director-General Dr. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea reported progress, with malaria deaths dropping to 74 in 2024 from 146 prior. “Our National Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan for 2024–2028 is ambitious, and to achieve it, we must embrace every effective tool available, including tech-led larval source management,” he said.
WHO Country Representative Dr. Fiona Braka underscored vector control's role in slashing global malaria since 2000, amid climate shifts and migration. She advocated data-backed LSM using cost-effective innovations like AI, drones, and remote sensing for elimination.
GHBUSS
12 Feb. 2026
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