AngloGold Ashanti

Reducing malaria risk for workers and mining communities 

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Climate-related labour risk: Vector-borne disease 
Solution pathway: Integrated disease prevention, workforce health, and community health systems 

Business type: Large corporate  
Sector: Mining 
Geography: Ghana / Global operations 

In Practice

Vector-borne diseases such as malaria are a growing concern for businesses operating in climate-sensitive regions, where changing temperatures, rainfall, and environmental conditions can affect disease risks. For AngloGold Ashanti, malaria was not only a public health issue but a direct workforce and productivity challenge at its Obuasi mine in Ghana. 

In 2005, the Edwin Cade Hospital serving the Obuasi mine recorded an average of 6,800 malaria cases each month, including around 2,500 mine employees. Each case caused an estimated three days off work, resulting in around 7,500 lost man-shifts every month. Malaria treatment costs were also significant, with the company spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on medication and care. 

In response, AngloGold Ashanti launched an integrated malaria control programme in Obuasi in 2005, with the Obuasi Malaria Control Centre opened in 2006. The programme combined indoor residual spraying, insecticide-treated nets, larviciding, environmental management, surveillance, insecticide resistance management, education, early diagnosis, and treatment. Its original aim was to reduce malaria incidence by 50% within two years, but this target was achieved rapidly and declines of more than 80% was recorded in malaria incidence, absenteeism, and malaria treatment costs for mine employees between 2005 and 2009. 

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The programme was later formalised as AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control Ltd, an independent entity created in 2009. In 2010, AGAMal became the first private company in Africa to serve as a Principal Recipient of the Global Fund. The programme has since expanded beyond Obuasi, including work in Ghana’s Upper West Region and across prisons and prison officers’ residences. AngloGold Ashanti reports that AGAMal sprays more than one million structures annually, protects approximately one million people from malaria, and creates around 1,300 local temporary jobs each year. 

Why this example was selected

This case study was curated because it is a rare example of a business-led workforce health intervention with strong evidence of impact and repeated external recognition. The programme directly addressed a disease that was causing worker absenteeism, treatment costs, and productivity losses, while also improving health outcomes for the wider community. 

It has received several awards and forms of recognition. AngloGold Ashanti received the Global Business Coalition’s Business Excellence Award for its malaria work, two Pan African Health Awards, an award from the Roll Back Malaria West Africa Regional Network, and the Corporate Social Investment Project of the Year Award at the Ghana Mining Industry Awards. Its selection as a Global Fund Principal Recipient also provides strong institutional validation of the programme’s quality and scalability. 

Key Lesson

Businesses operating in climate-sensitive disease regions can protect labour availability and productivity by investing in worker and community health systems, especially where workforce risk is shaped by conditions beyond the workplace itself. 

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