Professor Evelyn Korkor Ansah, Director of the Centre for Malaria Research at the Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences, has called for a different approach in Ghana’s effort to eradicate malaria. She was delivering her professorial Inaugural Lecture at the Cedi Auditorium of the University on June 17, on the theme: “Quo vadis? A context-driven approach to ending malaria.”
“We are at the crossroads in our fight against malaria,” she said; “we cannot continue to do the same things to get the same results. It begins with a change of our mindset and a change in our attitudes towards the disease.”
Prof. Ansah bemoaned the attitude of thinking of malaria as something normal. She alluded to the fact that although the disease is preventable and treatable, it continues to affect people’s livelihoods, causing significant illness and even death. 229 million cases of malaria were reported in 2019 in 87 countries and 409,000 deaths in the same year.
Citing other endemic countries who have eradicated malaria, Prof. Ansah expressed optimism that Ghana could also eradicate the disease, provided the approach and mindset change. Algeria has eliminated malaria; the country received World Health Organization (WHO) certification in 2019. El-Salvador, with a population of six million, has also been certified malaria-free; and China, with a population of 1.4 billion people, has maintained zero malaria record for the last three years, and is likely to be certified malaria-free.
In his closing remarks, the Vice Chancellor of UHAS, Prof. John Owusu Gyapong, who chaired the lecture, said, “It is possible to achieve these elimination goals when we harness our human, financial and all other resources at our disposal.”
He admonished young faculty members not to look high beyond the skies to also contribute their quota to national development: “There are many problems around us. Start your research within your community and let it benefit the people around.”
The VC described Prof. Ansah as a research icon worthy of emulation.
Prof. Ansah, who is well-versed in Public Health and served under the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service for 25 years, has also served in various capacities at national and global levels, including as former Deputy Director for Research at the Research and Development Division of the Ghana Health Service in 2011. Currently, she is a member of the National Committee for Review of Antimalarial Drug Policy and a member of the Malaria Strategic Plan Review Committee. She also provided support to the National Malaria Control Programme team in the development of Ghana’s most recent grant application to the Global Fund for Malaria and COVID-19 Response Mechanism from 2020 to 2022. Globally, she is currently a member of the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee, the highest policy advisory committee of the WHO.
With over 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals, Prof. Evelyn Ansah has been a scientific reviewer of several peer-reviewed journals, including the British Medical Journal; American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; African Journal of Pharmacy; Ethiopian Medical Journal; and the Ghana Medical Journal.
At UHAS, apart from being the Director for the Centre for Malaria Research, she has played other significant roles over the years. She has chaired the planning committees of the UHAS Leadership Lecture Series since 2018 and has served as the Vice Chair of the UHAS Research Ethics Committee.
Prof. Ansah obtained her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Ghana. She studied Medicine at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and is a product of Achimota School. She is married to Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Ansah, and they are blessed with three children.