The absence of some major childhood vaccines in hospitals has left parents in a state of confusion.
The fear of infants being exposed to childhood diseases is something parents cannot take their minds off. More worrying is the inability of health officials to tell when the vaccines will be ready.
At the Suntreso government hospital in Kumasi, Emmanuel Baah was left puzzled when he was informed about the absence of polio and measles vaccine after he brought his one-month-old baby girl to the hospital for vaccination.
The father of one was worried the shortage of the essential vaccines for infants will pose a threat to his child.
“For me, it is a matter of life and death with this situation. This can derail the effort by the country to reduce child mortality. So government should do everything possible to make these essential vaccines available within the shortest possible time,” visibly frustrated Baah said.
The Suntreso Government Hospital has 9 out of the 13 childhood vaccines in stock. The unavailable ones are that of Polio, Measles, Tuberculosis, and Diarrhoea.
“We have been explaining to parents the situation we find ourselves in. So we give the children what we have in stock and tell parents to come back in a month since we do not know when the vaccines will arrive.
We however hope it will be sooner,” Public Health Officer at Suntreso government hospital, Francisca Nkrumah noted.
The Pediatric Society of Ghana has however warned childhood diseases could quickly spread if the vaccines are not made available soon.
Timely vaccination of children can help attain the Sustainable Development Goal 3, which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all by 2030.
