Work together to sustain childhood vaccination benefits
A durbar has been held at Asokore-Mampong to mark this year’s national polio day with a call to all to work together to sustain the huge benefits of childhood vaccination programmes.
Mr. Daniel Ebo Nsarko, Country Director, One Million Community Health Workers’ Campaign, said it was important community leaders, parents, religious leaders and elected officials made sure every child received vaccine, no matter how difficult it might be to reach some of them.
He made reference to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, which says, in excess of three million child deaths are prevented globally, every year, through vaccination.
He indicated that the “the overarching role of community members at sustaining and consolidating Ghana’s gains cannot be underestimated”.
Mr. Nsarko said although the nation had not recorded any case of polio since year 2008, the risk still remained.
He warned that “until the poliovirus is interrupted from the three remaining polio endemic countries – Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, all countries remain at risk of importation of polio”.
He announced that the Asokore-Mampong Municipality had been selected as one of the seven national community health workers (CHW) study sites, where the CHWs would be trained and equipped with mobile phones together with their supervisors to provide health promotion and education to the doorsteps of the people.
It is densely populated with children and because its health directorate is under-resourced, this is making it difficult to meet immunization targets.
He spoke of focusing on the use of mobile technologies to enhance healthcare delivery in the country and added that, the municipality had been made one of their pilot sites.
“We will together with our partners support this municipality to greatly improve on all of its health indicators.”
The theme chosen for this year’s event was “Be part of the history; end polio now”.
Dr. Patrick Aboagye, Head of Family Health, Ghana Health Service (GHS), called for parents to make sure that every child was vaccinated against childhood diseases.
He stated that seven out of 10 children in the country had been vaccinated and surveillance was done to test suspected cases.
Mr. Awal Babah-Alargi, Assistant Governor of the Rotary Club of Kumasi, said the organization and other partners were close to achieving the dream of eradicating polio.
He said there was now about 99 per cent success in the eradication of the disease, adding that, no child should suffer from any incurable disease that was preventable.
Source: GNA