The minority in Ghana’s Parliament has slammed the government over the shortage of vaccines in the country.
The Minority stressed that despite the allocation of about GH¢72 million for the procurement of vaccines, the country has been hit with the outbreak of Measles since October 2022 due to the shortage of vaccines.
At a presser on Tuesday, March 7, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu must step aside if he cannot effectively deliver on his mandate.
“We started recording measles vaccine shortages around October 2022 and this is an emergency situation the minister and the government have failed and continue to look on several months on.
“This is highly unacceptable especially when these vaccines are not over-the-counter medicines that people can walk in and buy them. These vaccines are very sensitive and highly protected by organizations and state so if we don’t have the vaccines, all the children in this country are at very high risk, especially in the Northern part of the country,” he said.
Mr. Akandoh further stressed that the shortages are “unpardonable because, in the planning of vaccine procurement and its deployment, we are supposed to plan ahead”.
Several parts of the country have been hit with a shortage of BCG and OPV vaccines as a result of the Ministry of Health’s failure to secure procurement of these vaccines since the year began.
The BCG vaccine is primarily needed to prevent the occurrence of tuberculosis in babies, while the OPV is to prevent polio infections.
Other essential vaccines to prevent diseases such as measles, whooping cough, etc. are also in short supply.
But the Health Ministry has assured that in the next few weeks, the issue of vaccine shortage will be resolved.