The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate, in collaboration with its partners, has officially launched the 2024 Polio Vaccination Campaign under the theme, “Kick Polio Out Of Ghana.”
The campaign, set to run from Thursday, October 17th to Sunday, October 20th, 2024, aims to vaccinate a target of 1,042,361 children under five years across the Ashanti Region.
During the launch, Dr. Fred Adomako Boateng, the Ashanti Regional Health Director, provided an insightful briefing on the significance of the campaign.
He emphasized that polio, predominantly affects children below the age of five, with one in 200 infections leading to irreversible paralysis.
He further explained, “Among those paralyzed, 5 to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized; and in some instances, the child is unable to move certain limbs, also called paralysis, even into adulthood, affecting the quality of life and at times the potential for other activities.”
Dr. Boateng also addressed the progress Ghana has made in combating wild poliovirus strains but cautioned that challenges remain.
“Though we have been able to address the wild types of polioviruses in the environment, we have not yet achieved our major objective of the Polio Endgame Plan to eradicate all forms of polioviruses. Our agenda of eradicating polio is in jeopardy with the current outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus,” he stated.
To ensure the success of the campaign, Dr. Boateng called on various stakeholders, including traditional leaders, parents, guardians, educators, health workers, and the media, to actively participate in the effort to vaccinate children.
He noted, “Chiefs, Nananom, Queen mothers, Opinion leaders, Parents, Guardians, Headmistresses and Headmasters, Health Workers, the Media, the Clergy and Imams, partners and volunteers, health workers should get involved to ensure that we vaccinate at least 95% of children in the country, and in Ashanti Region, we are looking at a target population of 1,042,361.”
Health workers will be conducting house-to-house vaccinations and will also visit churches, schools, and other public places to reach as many children as possible.
Even children who have already received the polio vaccine will be vaccinated again to strengthen their immunity and contribute to the collective goal of eradicating polio from Ghana.
Source – Isaac Asiedu
