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| Dr Akpablie |
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| WHO Country Director, Dr Iddrisu Sow |
09-10-12
Narration: Between 1996/97, the
popular communicable disease, Cerebrospinal Meningitis often referred to as
(CSM) was responsible for over 1,300 deaths in Ghana with Northern Ghana,
particularly the Upper East recording the highest out of 18,700 cases
identified. The disease, notwithstanding the efforts of the Health Authorities,
continues to cause regular epidemics, resulting in deaths, disabilities and
suffering among those residing within the meningitis belt. As an
interventionary measure, the GHS in partnership with the UN Children Fund under
WHO, has introduced a new vaccine to
freely immunize persons between the ages of 1-29 to protect them against the
disease. To this effect, the Upper East Regional Health Directorate has
officially launched a campaign to usher in the new vaccine. Correspondent Isaac
Asare has more for Radio
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ANCR V/O
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| Paga Pio, Pe Awampaga (left) in your shot |
Report
The Upper
East Region has for the past decade recorded as high as 18,000 cases of
Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) with over 2,000 deaths, an indication that it is
just a matter of time to see every household severely affected by the loss of a
loved one due to CSM, if drastic measures are not employed to reverse the
trend. In the Upper East for instance, over 1,300 people lost their lives
between 1996/97, whilst a sizeable number were rendered disabled due to CSM
Serotype A. Also at the early part of this year, outbreak of Meningitis
resulted in the death of 30 persons, resident in the Kassena-Nankana East and
West Districts out of 336 cases recorded, representing 8.2%. It is for this
reason, that the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the Ghana
Health Service has rolled out a new conjugate vaccine against Meningococcal
Meningitis caused by Neisseria Meningitis Type A (Men A). At an official launch
of Men A campaign in Bolgatanga, the Deputy Director of Health Services, Dr.
James Akpablie emphasized the relevance of the new vaccine, saying the vaccine
offers longer protection than the polysaccharide vaccines used in the
past. According to him, studies
conducted on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine had proven positive
and used Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali as case study. The usage of the vaccine,
he further explained, had amounted to drastic reduction of CSM cases that were
prevailing for several years in the said countries. Dr Akpablie, however
allayed all public fears and misconception about the introduction of the new
vaccine, indicating that his outfit has fashioned out measures to detect,
investigate and ensure the appropriate management of any adverse effect
following the intended immunization likely to be recorded in the region. Mass
vaccination exercise, he alerted, would be carried out in the region, targeting
less than 800,000 vulnerable groups between the ages of 1-29. The exercise
which begins today October, 9, ending October, 18, 2012 is estimated to cover
70 percent of the total population of the region. The vaccine, Dr Akpablie
re-echoed would additionally offer protection to children under two and
pregnant women and called on the targeted group to take advantage of the
vaccination exercise since it is expected to prevent deaths and save millions
of cedis spent on diagnosis and treatment of meningitis cases, particularly in
the three northern regions. The Upper
East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo, who represented as the guest speaker
charged stakeholders including chiefs and religious leaders to take a leading
role in ensuring that all the targeted persons in the region are vaccinated
against not only CSM but all vaccine preventable disease. He commended staff of
the directorate for their effort over the years and pledged government’s
continuous support in addressing their human and infrastructure needs including
vaccine and other necessary logistics to help reduce the rate of preventable
deaths in the region. Speaking on
the theme: “Stop CSM: Get Vaccinated Now, Dr Iddrisu Sow of WHO said his office
was happy to be part of the launch since it was the widest national choice
implemented by the health sector of the country. Dr Sow said the new vaccine
was cost effective and had the ability to reducing reoccurrence of the disease.
According to him, the vaccine has comparative advantage over the one used in
the past and encourage all within the venerable age group to be part of the
exercise. According to him, residents in the three regions of the north are
within the meningitis belt resulting in regular epidemics in theses region,
hence the need for them to be advocators in ensuring a successful
exercise. The Regional launch of Men ‘A’
Campaign attracted a cross section of
the public including representatives of
health related NGOs as well students
from the various health institutions across the region.
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