Mapping malaria risk in the New Juaben Municipality of Ghana using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques

Abstract

Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease which is caused by the bites of an infected female Anopheles mosquito and is an issue of grave public health concern. The control of malaria requires effective surveillance systems that will enable efficient malaria response in endemic regions to prevent outbreaks of the disease and to track progress. The objective of this study was to identify mosquito prone areas and develop a malaria risk map for New Juaben Municipality (NJMA) in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Geographic Information System (GIS), Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) were integrated to develop the malaria risk map which would help in the identification of potential habitats for mosquitoes based on environmental factors that make a place suitable for mosquito breeding. The environmental factors considered were: vegetation, land surface temperature, distance to streams, elevation, slope and topographic wetness index. Mosquito prone areas within the study area were identified and classified into four classes (Very Low, Low, High and Very High) of which the most dominant class was “Low” (56.46 %). A malaria risk map for the study area was then developed and classified into five classes (Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High) of which the most dominant class was “Moderate” (30.17 %). The “High”, “Very High” and “Moderate” areas, together, constitute 56.07 % which is significant. Any efficient malaria response in NJMA should be focused in these areas. This work could be replicated in all the municipalities and districts in Ghana to help prevent outbreak and track the progress of malaria