STMA Health Director Urges Strict Hygiene Practices To Help Eradicate Polio

• Doctor Pius Mensah, the STMA Health Director, in an interaction with stakeholders reiterated calls for Ghanaians to observe hygiene with a view to eradicate polio
• Authorities are planning to roll out a second dose of a polio vaccine, aiming to jab over 10,000 children under five
• Parents have been urged to ensure their children are vaccinated in line with the country's long term national health objectives

The Health Director of The Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, Doctor Pius Mensah, has reiterated the need to observe proper hygiene if polio disease is to be eradicated.

Keeping the environment clean at all times, he said, is one of the surest means to help end the spread of the polio virus.

“Fundamentally, polio is a disease transmitted through filth. So all the protocols must be observed to ensure a good hygienic environment and personal hygiene, as this is critical”, he said.

Mensah, speaking with YEN.com.gh on the sidelines of a program in Sekondi to brief selected journalists and stakeholders, discussed the introduction of the “Second Dose of the Inactivated Polio Vaccine into Routine Immunisation.”

He explained that the second dose is not a new vaccine but is being introduced as an immune booster for children under five years old.

He noted, “the key thing about the IPV2 is that it can fight against all three types of polio, namely Polio 1, 2 and 3”.

The target set by the Directorate is to vaccinate 10,390 children under five years.

The engagement forms part of efforts by the Directorate to ensure public awareness and stakeholder support in strengthening routine immunisation services in line with national and global strategies to eradicate poliomyelitis.

Mensah encouraged parents and guardians to make their wards available to be vaccinated with the IPV2 when field workers and volunteers are deployed for the month-long immunisation exercise.

Present were parents, guardians, assembly members, religious bodies, health workers, community volunteers, NGOs and other community-based groups.

The STMA Metro Health Directorate Public Health Nurse, Marian Borden, said the Public Health Unit at the Directorate has deployed nurses to visit communities and other vantage locations to commence the vaccination.

Health officials allay Polio vaccine fears

Borden assured parents that the IPV2 is safe and effective against Polio and therefore, there was no need to entertain any fear that their children might be in danger after receiving the jab.

She said the Public Health Unit of the Directorate will take advantage of the month-long IPV2 vaccination, which is part of the “African Vaccination Week” and “Child Health Promotion Week”, to create awareness and accelerate their efforts in their activities to reach every child within the metro.

The benefits of the IPV second-dose vaccine include the provision of additional protection against polio, and it helps to set the stage for ending OPV use entirely after WPV eradication has been achieved.

When use of OPV is eventually stopped, IPV will continue to provide full protection and introducing IPV to the community also helps to remind caretakers about the importance of vaccinations overall and inform them about missed and upcoming vaccinations.

According to 2023 data, the Western Region by the end of 2023 had vaccinated 84,884, children under five with the IPV.

Ghana faces shortage of critical vaccines

YEN.com.gh reported that Health facilities across Ghana have been hit by a shortage of some common but critical vaccines used for routine immunisation of babies from birth to about 18 months.

According to an investigative report by the state-owned Daily Graphic newspaper, the shortage of vaccines in almost all 16 regions across the country exposes infants to diseases such as meningitis, polio, measles, and whooping cough, among others.

Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh