The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has attributed the shortage of some vaccines used for routine immunisation of babies to the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
The shortage of vaccines has the potential to increase the vulnerability of children to the diseases the vaccines seek to protect them against.
Under the routine vaccination programme, 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.
Speaking on Ahotor 92.3 Fm’s Midday news, Executive Director, Africa Center for Health Policy and Research Analysis Dr. Thomas Anaba says using the cedi depreciation as the cause of the shortage of vaccine doesn’t make sense to him.
He blamed the Director General of the Ghana Health Service for not doing his work well.
“The duty of the Ghana Health Service Director General’s duty is to evaluate and access birth rate in Ghana, the disease pattern, the infection rate of a particular preventable disease in Ghana and project it in a year and tell government how much they need and they should calculate in dollar terms not in cedi terms”.
Listen to Dr. Thomas Anaba below:
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh / Ahotoronline.com
