While significant progress has been made in the fight against polio, there are still challenges that demand attention and action.
As the World observes Polio Day with the theme “Make Polio History,” the Defence Against AIDS Poverty and Underdevelopment {DAAPU} and its key partner NIYEL West Africa, says it is an opportunity to reaffirm commitment to ending polio once and for all.
DAAPU in a release says with increase demand for vaccines by communities, government and its partners have the responsibility to heavily invest in securing adequate vaccines to match the increasing demand.
It further called on the Government of Ghana, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and the Ministry of Finance to place child immunization on top of its priority list.
This should be done by committing more resources to the Ghana Health Services through the Ministry of Health in order to allow for adequate procurement and timely delivery of vaccines for increased immunization uptake.
The release says although cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus 2 (cVDPV2) continue to cause outbreaks in countries across Africa, Ghana has not experienced cVDPV2 outbreaks since 2021, the country remains vulnerable to reinfection and accordingly must continue initiatives to create vaccine demand.
It calls on parents and Care Givers to take action by taking all children under 5 years to health facilities to access vaccines on routine basis.