The Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, says he is disappointed in President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for failing to provide clear timelines on the procurement of childhood vaccines.
Several parts of the country have been hit with a shortage of vaccines in the last few months, despite claims by the National Health Insurance Authority that over GH¢70 million has been released, for the procurement of the vaccines.
President Akufo-Addo in his State of the Nation Address on March 8, 2023, said steps have been taken to ensure the vaccines are procured and supplied as a matter of emergency.
“In accordance with our desire not to become part of this global trend, Government has taken steps to ensure that stocks of these vaccines are procured and supplied, as a matter of emergency. The Ghana Health Service has developed an elaborate programme to catch up on children who have missed their vaccinations immediately stocks arrive.
“I want to encourage all parents and caregivers to ensure that eligible children are vaccinated, once this programme begins. No child should be denied access to vaccination. Mercifully, so far, not a single child has died as a result of the outbreak.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
But speaking to journalists, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, said the government is denying children access to good health care, with the shortage of vaccines in the country.
“What is the meaning of emergency? What is the meaning of soon? They should be telling us the timelines. In the first place, we shouldn’t have gotten here, it looks like the President doesn’t appreciate the essence of urgency. For me, I’m simply uncomfortable and disappointed”.
“He had the opportunity to vaccinate his children and grandchildren. Children are born today and every minute, and they have no opportunity to be vaccinated. You are denying the people the right to good healthcare which is against the constitution of the land. In some jurisdictions, this is a crime for Christ’s sake, and I’m getting emotional about it.”
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
However, the former Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, who currently serves as the Eastern Regional Minister; Seth Acheampong, also disagrees with this assertion.
“He [President] said that no child will be left out without a vaccination, that is a promise and that is what we have to follow through. By the end of the vaccination period, if a child is left unvaccinated, then we know that he lied to us, but this is so early to say so.”
Seth Acheampong
Measles Vaccine To Arrive Soon
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has assured that the country will in the coming weeks take delivery of some quantities of measles vaccines to deal with the shortages being recorded in all 16 regions.
According to the Health Minister, he had been seriously concerned about the situation and its effect on the vaccination programme in the country, stressing that “this is a major source of worry for the ministry, partners, caregivers, and the population.”
Addressing the media, he said the Ministry Of Health (MOH) was aware of the implications of the shortages, including disease outbreaks, and its effects on child survival.
The minister, explained that the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), had been a flagship disease control programme in the country and arguably, one of the best programmes in the sub-region with high coverage levels of over 95 percent.
“We have an established system for forecasting, procurement, supply and distribution of routine vaccines, and monitoring their use,” he emphasized.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu, said even though it was true that there had been some vaccine shortages in the country since the last quarter of 2022, the situation was as a result of some global challenges.
He noted that the vaccines in short supply were BCG, Measles-Rubella (MR), and Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), adding that “the recent shortage in vaccines for measles, as regrettable as it is, is symptomatic of the steady global decline in measles vaccination since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Quoting from the World Health Organisation’s publication, he noted that the whole world shifted its attention to the Covid-19 pandemic, to the neglect of other vaccines, leading to global decline in measles vaccines. He explained that over the last two years, a total of 40 million children had missed their first dose, leading to nine million cases with 120,000 deaths.
Despite this, he said the MOH had been making efforts to ensure it secured adequate stocks of vaccines, stressing that “we have made all necessary efforts to ensure that despite these challenges, we secure adequate stocks within the next few weeks.”
Mr Agyeman-Manu said Ghanaians must discard the erroneous impression that there had been deaths from measles in Ghana recently.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there have been no deaths from the recently recorded spike in measles cases. Indeed, there have been no deaths since 2003, though we have recorded cases annually. Working with UNICEF, we are fast-tracking the processes and it is expected that the vaccines would be supplied in the next few weeks All things being equal.”
Kwaku Agyeman-Manu
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