Celebrating 'Detty December' In Africa

Are you planning to celebrate 'Detty December' in West Africa? Since 2016, 'Detty December' has symbolized a month of fun and revelry.

This festive season, running from December 2025 to January 2026, brings together locals and people of African descent from around the globe through a variety of events, including parties, Afrobeats concerts, carnivals, art shows, and cultural celebrations.

According to a news article from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published on November 17, 2025, hundreds of thousands of people travel to West Africa for Detty December, including tens of thousands from the UK's large West African community, with nearly 90% being Nigerians living overseas – mainly in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Ghana received around 236,000 international visitors during November and December 2024, most of them from the USA, the UK, and Nigeria.

The AfroFuture festival in Accra is also expected to attract tens of thousands of people this December.

As with other mass gatherings around the world, infections such as measles, respiratory viruses, and gastrointestinal illnesses can spread quickly. Moreover, mosquito-transmitted diseases such as malaria are also a health risk.

The UKHSA says People travelling to Africa to visit friends and relatives are at the highest risk of getting malaria in 2025. 

Around 80% of UK travellers who contracted malaria abroad were of African descent.

To reduce the risk when travelling to West Africa, it is essential to use mosquito bite prevention methods and take the recommended antimalarial drugs.

Recently, a novel non-artemisinin antimalarial from Novartis demonstrated that it is as effective as standard treatment. On November 12, 2025, Novartis announced positive results from KALUMA, a Phase III study for the new malaria treatment KLU156 (ganaplacide/lumefantrine, or GanLum).

Novartis stated in a November 2025 press release that it plans to seek regulatory approvals from health authorities for GanLum as soon as possible. 

Travellers should also seek medical attention from a healthcare provider upon returning to the UK if they experience malaria-related symptoms.

While two malaria vaccines are in use in Africa, they are not recommended for short-term visitors by the UKHSA and the U.S. CDC.

In addition to malaria, the CDC has highlighted measles and polio risks in African countries such as Nigeria.