Childhood vaccines shortage: Five dead in Tamale – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has revealed that contrary to assertions by President Akufo-Addo and his Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu no deaths have been recorded as a result of shortage of childhood vaccines, five lives have been lost.

Debating the President’s State of the Nation Address, Ranking Member for Committee on Health, Kwabena Minta Akandoh referenced the chief paediatrician at the Tamale Teaching Hospital for the figures on casualties.

“Mr Speaker, the President on the floor of the House, said that we had recorded no deaths, the Minister also repeated on the floor that no deaths have been recorded. Mr Speaker, that is again palpable falsehood. According to the Northern Regional Paediatrician at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Prof. Lumin Alhassan, we have recorded about five fatalities.”

The Juaboso MP further revealed even though government has managed to secure some vaccines from Nigeria, there is also a shortage of reagents to confirm tests at Noguchi, adding that “this is the state of the country, these are facts.”

Mr. Akandoh questioned how the government managed to secure vaccines from Nigeria if indeed the shortage was global as claimed by the President.

“Mr Speaker, the bigger question is how come Nigeria has excess vaccines and we don’t have. Mr Speaker, I think that we should not even have gotten here in the first place.

"The vaccines that we have taken delivery of can only last for six weeks. So we should not be making noise that we are coming out of the situation. We should rather be thinking of how to get more vaccines to save the vulnerable babies in this country.”