Ghana News

Following confirmation of circulating vaccine derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) in the environmental sample from Tamale Metropolis and also detection of Polio in a two (2) years, (9) nine months old child from Chereponi district of the North East Region, the Ministry of Health /Ghana Health Service declared the event a Public Health Emergency of National Concern.  Again on 25th August 2019, the National Polio Laboratory further notified the Ghana Health Service of confirmation of Polio in environmental surveillance sample taken from a drain at Agbogbloshie in Accra Metropolis in

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched series of vaccination campaigns against polio outbreak to prevent the spread of the virus in high risk areas among children under five.
The first phase which is termed ‘round zero’ would ensure that children in all districts in Greater Accra who are eligible, are vaccinated from September 11 to 14th.
The polio outbreak response campaign comes after the health sector confirmed three events of circulating vaccine derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) from 8 July this year.

Dr Owen Laws Kaluwa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative, has called for improved funding for hepatitis testing and treatment services.
He noted that despite available diagnostic tools and effective treatment, less than one in ten of the 71 million people with hepatitis B and C in Africa had access to testing, and more than 200,000 die each year due to complications like end-stage liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

On 14 June 2019, Ghana joined the global community to celebrate World Blood Donor Day.

Ghana on Monday 3rd June 2019 joined  the rest of the world to celebrate World No Tobacco Day to increase awareness on the dangers of tobacco smoke to lung health and the fundamental role lungs played in the health and well-being of individuals.
The celebration on the theme: “Tobacco and Lung Health”, also aimed at raising awareness on cost-effective and feasible actions that key audiences, including governments and the public could take to reduce the risks to lung health posed by tobacco.

 Her Excellency, First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Mrs Rebecca Akufu-Addo has called for renewed and vigorous commitment to the fight against malaria.   She said the attainment of zero malaria was achievable “when we all show commitment and collaborate better.

 His Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Wednesday, 24th April, 2019 launched Ghana’s largest drone delivery service at Omenako in the Eastern Region to improve healthcare delivery, especially in hard-to-reach areas.
The project, christened: “Fly to Save a life,” would use drones to operate 24 hours a day, throughout the week, from four distribution centres with each centre equipped with 30 drones to deliver essential medicines and blood products to 2,000 health facilities.

The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the WHO Country Office organized a Press Briefing at the Ministry of Health conference room to mark the World Health Day on 08 April 2019 and under the theme “Universal Health Coverage, everyone, everywhere” and the slogan of “Health for All”.

Ghana has announced the roll out of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme in a press briefing held on 10th April 2019 in Accra.  The event was attended by the WHO Country Representative Dr Owen Kaluwa and other Officers from the Country Office, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service Dr Anthony Nsiah- Asare, Officials from the Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI), representatives of MVIP Evaluation Partners, Officials from Foods and Drugs Authority (FDA), Coalition of NGOs in Health, representatives from UNICEF and a cross section of media from print, TV and Radio.