2018 Subnational Yellow Fever Preventive Mass Vaccination Campaign Launched in the Western Region

The Western Regional Health Directorate in collaboration with the Ghana Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) has launched a seven-day mass vaccination campaign against deadly viral haemorrhagic diease, Yellow fever in five selected districts in the region. 
At the launch, Dr. Kofi Asemanyi-Mensah (Deputy Director in charge of Public Health) revealed that the exercise, which excludes pregnant women, would take place in the Bodi, Juaboso, Wassa Amenfi West, Wassa Amenfi Central and Wasa Amenfi East districts of the Western Region from 28th November to 4th December, 2018, for people aged between 10-60 years.
He said the vaccination campaign would be extended to the remaining districts in the region in 2019, nonetheless these five districts were selected due to the fact that they have been classified in a 2010 assessment on Yellow fever as "very high risk".
According to Dr Asemanyi-Mensah, tropical areas of Africa including Ghana and Latin America have been noted to be endemic for Yellow fever and it was for this reason that Gavi, the vaccine alliance, supplied the Ministry of Health to take this preventive measures to protect the people from contracting the disease.
He said 312,000 doses of the vaccine have been made available for the exercise in the region to vaccinate some 294,806 persons.
He added that region would combine fixed teams who will work at fixed post, mobile teams who will move from one community to another and camp-out teams who will be based in places which were very hard-to-reach.
In all there are 326 teams, 326 vaccinators, 977 volunteers, 54 team supervisors and 20 regional supervisors and coordinators trained to ensure successful implementation of the campaign in the region.
He urged all to eligible persons in the five selected districts to avail themselves for the vaccination and said the vaccines were safe for humans and added that the Ministry of Health has been using the same vaccine in their childhood routine vaccination programme and vaccination of travelers.
He however stressed that there might be slight reactions like fever, body pain, nausea and vomiting in some people after the vaccination, which he noted was not life threatening, but hinted that his men and women were well trained to handle any adverse events which might follow after vaccination.
Mr Nicholas Adomako Asare, Regional EPI Coordinator said all was set for a smooth take-off of the exercise

 Mr Andy Nana Opoku, Media Advisor for USAID Communicate for Health who was present at the launch urged the media to help educate the public on the need to be vaccinated against Yellow fever.
Mr Obed Bangdome Ofori, Regional Surveillance Officer indicated that even though 124 Yellow fever cases were suspected in the region in the year 2017, no case was confirmed positive for Yellow fever IgM. He appealed to the Ministry of Health to provide support to the National Public Health and Reference Laboratory to enable them test samples timely.
Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic diseases transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The "yellow" name refers to jaundice that affects some patients. Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
Story By:
MadeinTaadi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet Irene Devine Dzirasa, the Valedictorian at 2020 UHAS Congregation

Image
Miss Irene Devine Dzirasa During a Speech Delivery at the Graduation The University of Health and Allied Health (UHAS) has adjudged Ms. Irene Devine Dzirasa, a Public Health Nutrition graduate as the Valedictorian at the school's 2nd session of 4th Congregation held today at Sokode, Ho. She graduated with a final grade point average of 3.79. Ms. Irene revealed in a speech that her parent divorced at age 8 and by 15, she had lost her dad, whom she was living with at Kintampo. She added that, an admission letter she received on behalf of her late dad from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2005 has been her motivation towards academic excellence. Before enrolling into UHAS in 2017, she was and still the Municipal Nutrition Officer at Hohoe Municipal Health Directorate. In 2012, she was adjudged overall best graduating student for the Technical Officer Nutrition at College of Health and Well-being, Kintampo. She is a mother of two lovely childr
Read more

Kwabena Lyta Wins Best Hiplife Song at 2019 Edition of Western Music Awards

Image
Poster of Kwabena Lyta for 2019 RTC WMA Sefwi Boy Movement President Kwabena Lyta last Saturday was awarded Best Hiplife Song Title at the 2019 Edition of the RTC Western Music Awards which was organised at Best Western Atlantic Hotel in Takoradi. His song Ngrakers beat top Takoradi-based artists such as Ayesem, Yaw Lucas and Aya in the Best Hiplife Song of the year category. His win is historic since he is the first artist outside Sekondi-Takoradi to have won that title. He picked the baton from the self acclaimed Fante Rap-god Kofi Kinaata who was the reigning champion. Lyta was nominated as New Discovery Artist of the year and Best Rapper of the year in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the RTC Western Music Awards respectively. Aside the western music awards, he has been nominated and won so many awards in the past. Kwabena Lyta is double winner Artist of the year in the Western North Music Awards. Kwabena Lyta on Poster of Western Showbiz Awards  He gained fo
Read more

Champs Sports Bar and Grill Reopens in Takoradi, Western Region

Image
After closing down for weeks in 2021, Champs Sports Bar and Grill has reopened in Takoradi with a facelift.  What is New? 1. Separate Counters at the bar and restaurant.  Unlike the old Champs, the new Champs comes with two different counters, as such there is enough space and seats for patrons who wish to just sit around the counter. In addition to this, the bar and restaurant are in separate but connected rooms which gives adequate privacy to customers based on their individual needs. The Restaurant Counter.  You can be at the restaurant, eat your food and may not be noticed by people in the bar, who may be singing karaoke or dancing.  The Bar Counter  2. Improved washrooms. The new Champs has a state of the art washrooms for both females and males. Smart Mirror fitted in the Female Washroom  Comfort Ceramic Male Toilet Urinal 3. Improved Security.  The new Champs has adequate security on site. At least four security personnel are stationed to ensure the safety of customers and their
Read more