Use COVID-19 fund to strengthen health care, immunization financing — HFFG

The Executive Director of Hope For Future Generation (HFFG), Mrs Cecilia Senoo, has asked the government to use the COVID-19 fund to strengthen healthcare delivery, particularly the financing of immunization services.

Mrs Senoo said once COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency, it was necessary to channel the funds into the financing of immunization services to secure more vaccines to save the lives of the citizenry, particularly children and pregnant women.

She said this at the launch of the Financing Immunization Advocacy Response (FAIR) Project in collaboration with Socioserve Ghana, Civil Society Organisations and partners in Accra.

The FAIR Project is an initiative with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, aimed at advocating greater domestic resource mobilisation and increased accountability to support Immunization service delivery.

The project is also to ensure timely payment of immunization obligations and also ensure that new vaccines are introduced as well as meet financial obligations. 

The Executive Director said though Ghana had made impressive strides in achieving high immunization coverage, the achievements were  largely dependent on external support, which was waning, underscoring the need for commitment to mobilise resources in financing immunization services to save the citizenry.

She said: “This project is a collective commitment to building a healthier, more resilient society for our children. Immunization stands as one of the most effective public health interventions in preventing countless diseases and saving human lives. It is, therefore, important to take a look at the resources we devote to it, in order to take charge of our health and safeguard the future of this country.”

Dr. Nazir Mohammed, Deputy Director, Expanded Programme on Immunization, Ghana Health Service (GHS), noted that vaccination had helped to improve the life expectancy of Ghana’s population and had been the best investment any government could ever make.

Dr Mohhamed said Ghana had made significant increase from immunization of six childhood killer diseases to 11, including malaria vaccines that was being piloted in seven regions.

He said: “Ghana’s immunization programme is one of the most efficient and impactful on the continent. We have achieved high routine vaccine coverage levels over the years of more than 90 per cent for most of the antigens until the recent dips being observed which are partly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine shortages.”

He said vaccination had contributed to the reduction of under-five mortality from hundred and eleven per thousand lives births (111/1000LB) in 2003 to forty per thousand Live Births (40/1000LB) in 2022 whiles infant mortality from sixty four per thousand Live Births (64/1000LB) to twenty eight per 1000 Live Births (28/1000LB) and Neonatal mortality from forty three per 1000 live births to seventeen per thousand live births (17/1oooLB) within the same period.

 The Deputy Director said the increase in the number of vaccines and the safety of the citizenry required an increase in resources to ensure that all eligible children were reached to reduce zero dose and under-immunized children.

Dr Hilda Mantebea Boye, President of the Pediatric Association of Ghana, commended HFFG for the effort in ensuring financing and availability of vaccines in the country and pledged support for the FAIR initiative.

CSOs and partners at the launch reaffirmed their commitment to support the HFFG in ensuring immunization co-financing.

A coalition, with members from the academia, Civil Society Organisations, politicians, traditional leaders, the private sector and the media, will be formed for the successful implementation of the FAIR project.