A Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu, has raised concern over the growing impact of vaccine hesitancy on childhood pneumonia deaths in Ghana, warning that many children continue to die from preventable illnesses despite the availability of free vaccines.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Vaultz News as part of activities marking World Immunization Week, Dr. Owusu noted that although significant progress has been made globally in reducing childhood pneumonia deaths, the disease remains a major public health concern in Ghana, especially among children under five years.
According to her, improvements in childhood survival rates over the years have largely been driven by key medical interventions, particularly the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines and better treatment options for vulnerable children.
“Children do die from pneumonia, but I would say we have come a long way. Twenty years ago, when I started working, more than two million children were dying worldwide from pneumonia, and now we have come down to about half a million deaths worldwide.”
Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu
Dr. Owusu explained that vaccines designed to protect children against pneumonia have contributed significantly to the reduction in deaths globally. She also highlighted the role of antiretroviral therapy and improved healthcare interventions in helping reduce mortality rates among children.
Despite these gains, she said pneumonia continues to claim the lives of many children in Ghana, stressing that the situation remains worrying for healthcare professionals.
Hospital Data Raises Concern
Drawing from records at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Owusu revealed that hospital data collected over the past five years shows that one out of every ten children admitted with pneumonia dies. “That is worrying,” she emphasized. “We want to reduce it to less than that.”
According to her, one common pattern among many severe pneumonia cases is that affected children are either not vaccinated at all or have not completed the recommended immunization schedule under Ghana’s Expanded Programme on Immunization.
“Some of them would come, and they are not vaccinated at all or not fully vaccinated; We know that lack of vaccination contributes to childhood pneumonia deaths.”
Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu
Health experts continue to warn that although vaccines are free and widely available across the country, immunization coverage remains uneven. Current estimates suggest that only about 56 percent of children in Ghana are fully vaccinated, leaving many vulnerable to preventable diseases and outbreaks.
Dr. Owusu stressed that while pneumonia may result from different causes, vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to prevent severe infections and reduce deaths among children.
Misinformation Driving Vaccine Hesitancy
Dr. Owusu identified vaccine hesitancy as one of the major reasons many children continue to miss routine immunization. She explained that fear and misinformation surrounding vaccines have created doubt among some parents, with many believing that vaccines could harm their children.
“One of the reasons is vaccine hesitancy, where I am afraid to take my child to the immunization center. I do not believe in the vaccines. I think the vaccines can harm my child.”
Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu
Beyond misinformation, she pointed to several social and economic factors that also prevent parents from taking their children for vaccination on schedule.
According to her, some caregivers miss appointments because of farming activities, market days, transportation difficulties, or the long distance between their homes and healthcare facilities.
“It was the farming season. So, we could not take our child. We missed this last week. We could not meet the team when they came around because we had to go farming.”.
Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu
Dr. Owusu noted that some families travel deep into farming communities for extended periods, causing children to miss vaccines when they become due.
She also highlighted the influence of cultural and religious beliefs, explaining that in some homes, family members discourage mothers from vaccinating children because of fears based on personal experiences or stories circulating within communities.
“Some have strong beliefs, some religious and others personal beliefs, about the fact that vaccines are meant to harm children,” she stated.
Remote Communities Face Access Challenges
Apart from vaccine hesitancy, Dr. Owusu observed that access to healthcare services remains a challenge in some parts of the country. She explained that families living in remote and isolated communities are often cut off from regular health services, making it difficult for children to receive timely immunization.
“Some people live in very remote areas and they are just cut off from the general community,” she said. According to her, these access barriers continue to undermine efforts to achieve full immunization coverage nationwide and increase the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases.
She stressed the need for stronger outreach programmes and community education to ensure that vaccines reach children in underserved communities.
COVID-19 Worsened Public Distrust
Dr. Owusu also spoke about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public attitudes toward routine childhood immunization. According to her, misinformation circulated widely during the pandemic, particularly on social media, where false claims about vaccines spread rapidly and deepened distrust among sections of the population.
“People put all sorts of information out there, some of which was not substantiated and not backed by science. Like the vaccines are meant to wipe away Africa, or the vaccines are meant to harm us.”
Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu
She said the spread of such narratives worsened existing vaccine hesitancy and made some parents and several caregivers more reluctant to immunize their children.
Beyond misinformation, she noted that restrictions introduced during the pandemic also disrupted healthcare services and reduced access to routine immunization. Movement restrictions and reduced social interactions meant many parents avoided health facilities unless there was an emergency.
“We were supposed to keep a child at home and people generally did not want to interact. Non-emergency things were affected to a great extent.”
Paediatric Pulmonologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sandra Kwarteng Owusu
According to Dr. Owusu, many children missed routine vaccinations during the COVID-19 period, and the effects continue to linger even after the pandemic.
Need for Public Education
Dr. Owusu called for renewed public education campaigns to rebuild confidence in vaccines and encourage parents to complete the recommended immunization schedule for their children.
She stressed that vaccines remain one of the safest and most effective tools for protecting children against life threatening diseases such as pneumonia.
Health experts continue to maintain that improving vaccination coverage and tackling misinformation could significantly reduce preventable childhood deaths in Ghana.
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