The shortage of measles and polio vaccines in the country continue to bite hard as over 100 children in the northern part of Ghana are suspected to have contracted measles.
This situation was revealed by the President-elect of the Paediatrics Society of Ghana, Dr. Hilda Mantebea Boye.
The country has run out of stock with respect to BCG and OPV vaccines due to 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.
Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews, Dr. Mantebea further disclosed that the cases are likely to surge is swift interventions are not implemented.
“At the last count in the northern region, we have more than a hundred children who we suspect have measles. And it is very worrying to us. This is something ongoing so data is still being collected and because of the shortage of vaccines we expect that many more children could be affected by this. So the infection is likely to rise as the days go by,” she said.
