The government has pledged £10m to support a Unicef programme which aims to protect 4.7 million people in Ghana from malaria.

The money will go towards the procurement and distribution of 2.35 million insecticide-treated bed nets and education on the importance of using them.   

Malaria is one of the biggest killers in Africa with 850,000 deaths a year from the disease and Ghana is a malaria hotspot with three million suspected cases reported every year.

The latest figures are announced as part of a wider UK-led campaign to combat malaria with the British government aiming to increase contributions to the cause from the current £150m to £500m by 2014.

International development minister Stephen O'Brien said: "Ending preventable deaths from the disease is a priority for the British government and making better progress in high-burden countries such as Ghana will be crucial to our efforts.

"This support alone will save the lives of an estimated 15,000 children by giving them a bed net to sleep under and teaching them the importance of using it."

In September the government reinforced the UK's pledge to increase international giving to 0.7 per cent of the gross national income by 2013, a move which has caused debate in a time of domestic cuts.