Ghana Health Service to embark on inactivated polio vaccination

The Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service is to undertake Inactivated Polio Vaccination (IPV) campaign beginning Wednesday, February 19, to Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

It is part of the nationwide campaign targeting children aged between 21 months and 47 months.

A press release issued on Monday, signed by Dr Charity Sarpong, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Health Services, said: “In July 2019, a wild Polio Virus was confirmed in the environmental surveillance sample from the Tamale Koblimaghu drain in the Tamale Metro of the Northern Region of Ghana.”

”And in August 2019 another wild Polio Virus was confirmed in an Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) case in Ando Nyamanu Community in the Chereponi District.”

“Then on August 13, 2019 the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research (NMIMR) also isolated a wild Polio Virus from a single sample collected from the Agbogbloshie environmental surveillance site in the Greater Accra Region.”

“Since then there has been confirmation of wild Polio Virus from some environmental surveillance samples in other districts within the Greater Accra Region and also in some regions in the country.”

In response to this, the Ministry of Health and other health partners embarked on mOPV-2 reactive Vaccination campaign in the Greater Accra Region and the country as a whole.

In the Greater Accra Region two rounds of mOPV-2 reactive campaigns were embarked on September 11 to 14, and then September 25 to 28, 2019.

The IPV campaign is, therefore, to reinforce the 2019 mOPV-2 reactive vaccination campaign.

This is an injection, which would be given on the right shoulder of all Children eligible for the vaccine at all Public Health facilities and designated points in the communities in all 29 districts of the Region.

“It is very essential that every eligible child receives the IPV during this campaign for protection, irrespective of their routine immunisation status.”

It said polio is a deadly disease that can paralyse and even cause death, and the IPV vaccination prevents that.

“The IPV is an extremely safe and effective vaccine that has been used successfully in many countries for several decades. Polio Vaccine, given multiple times can protect a child for life and is not harmful,” the release said.

It encouraged people to always wash their hands with soap under running water, especially after using the toilet, cleaning the baby's buttocks, before eating or preparing food, before feeding the baby, and before serving meals.