About 120 cases of measles were been recorded in the Northern region by end of December 2022 due to the shortage of essential vaccines, the Pediatric Society of Ghana has disclosed.
Dr. Agyeiwaa Boundie, a member of the Paediatric Society of Ghana in a discussion on Citi TV on Saturday, has implored the government to ensure that the country never runs out of vaccines for children.
“120 cases of measles were recorded in the Northern Region. So that tells you the situation is severe. Many of the children were either not vaccinated or didn’t know their vaccination status.
“This has happened and this should never happen again. Our children are vulnerable… When it came to haircuts, our pensioners could talk for themselves, but our children cannot talk for themselves and this should never happen in our nation again.”
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has attributed the shortage of vaccines used for routine immunization of babies to the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
Under the routine vaccination program, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease; oral polio vaccine 0 (OPV); Measles-Rubella; Meningitis and Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) are administered.
Vaccines against polio, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type B (DPT/Hep B/ Hib 1) and six infectious diseases that are particularly dangerous to babies are also among those administered.
The shortage of vaccines has the potential to increase the vulnerability of children to the diseases the vaccines seek to protect them against.
Source: REYMOND AWUSEI JOHNSON