The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has assured parents of children who are yet to receive their scheduled vaccines due to the vaccine shortage currently being experienced in the country that the country will take delivery of these vaccines in the next few weeks.

He gave this assurance at an emergency press briefing organised to address the raging issue which has seen many worried parents moving from facility to facility in a desperate search for the crucial vaccines.

The Minister in his address stated that the nation is currently facing a shortage of some vaccines.

He said, “it is true we have had some vaccine shortages in the country since the last quarter of 2022. The vaccines in short supply are BCG, Measles-Rubella (MR), and Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). This shortage is nationwide.”

Agyemang-Manu however assured that  “the Ministry of Health has been making efforts to ensure we secure adequate stocks of vaccines despite this global challenge.”

He went further to state that, “we have made all necessary efforts to ensure that despite these challenges we secure adequate stocks within the next few weeks.”

He disclosed that the country has not recorded deaths caused by measles outbreak in parts of the country.

The Health Minister indicated that there had been no recorded measles-related deaths in the country in the last 20 years, even though there have been sporadic outbreaks.

He further indicated that besides the shortage of vaccines, there had been a global decline in vaccinations with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019.

He said, “the recent shortage in vaccines for measles, as regrettable as it is, is symptomatic of the steady global decline in measles vaccination since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.”

Agyemang-Manu however assures the citizenry that the nation’s vaccination coverage remains robust, with immunization performance coverage being among the best in the world.

According to him, “in 2021 we recorded 95% [vaccine] coverage.”

In recent months there has been a desperate scramble among worried parents of toddlers over the apparent shortage of vaccines for the six childhood killer diseases in the nation’s pharmacies and hospitals.

This coupled with an outbreak of the measles-rubella virus has left parents worrying about the safety of their children.

• About
• Latest Posts

Newscenta

Latest posts by Newscenta (see all)

• MTN cuts sod for $25m ‘Ghana ICT Hub’ – 28 March 2023
•  Dr Addison appeals to MPs to prioritize revenue bills – 28 March 2023
• Soldier slaps policeman provoking violent clash in Accra Central – 27 March 2023

Zipline, the world’s first and only national-scale drone delivery service has delivered some 14.8 million (14,809,463) units of lifesaving medical, vaccines and blood products to health facilities in Ghana as at the end of 2022

309,000 delivery flights

These items were delivered through 309,000 separate delivery flights.

4.4m units delivered

The total units delivered amounted to 4.4 million.

8.3m doses of childhood vaccines

Childhood vaccines top the list with the delivery of 8.3 million doses.

2.05m doses of COVID-19 vaccines

It is followed by COVID-19 vaccines which recorded 2.05 million doses.

48,588 doses of malaria vaccines

The company delivered 48,588 doses of malaria vaccines during the period

10,875 pints of blood

Some 10,875 blood units were also delivered during the period.

6 Zipline distribution centers

The six  Zipline distribution centers delivers lifesaving medical, vaccines and blood products to over 2,500 health facilities.

Zipline introduced in April 2019

Ghana integrated Zipline’s medical drone delivery service into its health supply chain in April 2019 with an initial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UPS Foundation and other partners.

Instant access to health commodities

Zipline enables instant access to hundreds of health commodities for thousands of health facilities across the country.

Autonomous drones

This marked the first time in history that autonomous drones have been used to make regular long-range deliveries into densely populated urban areas.

Zipline reaches half the population

Zipline’s current network in Ghana can reach up to half the population.

Life-saving care

All too often, people requiring life-saving care do not get the medicine they need when they need it.

Reduce medical waste

To increase access and reduce medical waste, key stock of blood products, vaccines, and life-saving medications are stored at Zipline’s base for just-in-time delivery.

Health workers place orders

Health workers place orders by text message or call and promptly receive their deliveries in 30 minutes on average.

Drones deliver the orders

The drones take off from and land at Zipline’s base, requiring no additional infrastructure or manpower at the clinics they serve.

Each drone can carry 1.8 kilos of cargo

The drones fly autonomously and can carry 1.8 kilos of cargo, cruising at 110km an hour, and have a round trip range of 160km—even in high-speed winds and rain.

How Zipline works

Each week, a single Zipline distribution centre – a combination of medical fulfilment warehouse and drone airport – is capable of the on-demand delivery of more than two tonnes of temperature-controlled medicine to any point across an almost 8,000 square mile service area.

30 to 45 minutes deliveries

Each aircraft can fly 100 miles round trip, in strong winds and rain, day or night, to make on-demand deliveries in 30 to 45 minutes on average.

Zipline’s drones have flown more than five million autonomous miles to deliver more than 1.5 million doses of vaccines, units of blood, and critical and life-saving medications to more than a thousand health facilities serving more than 25 million people across three countries.

Zipline in United States

In the United States, Zipline has partnered with a leading healthcare system, Novant Health, on the country’s first drone logistics operation by a hospital system for pandemic response.

To date, Novant Health has utilised Zipline to make contactless drone distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline medical teams around Charlotte, North Carolina.

Zipline operating in Kaduna and Cross River States in Nigeria

Zipline recently commenced medical delivery services in Kaduna and Cross River States in Nigeria as its footprint grows across Africa.

Set to begin commercial operations in Côte D’Ivoire and Kenya

The company is set to begin commercial operations in Côte D’Ivoire and Kenya this week bringing to five countries in Africa to have adopted the technology.

• About
• Latest Posts

Newscenta

Latest posts by Newscenta (see all)

• MTN cuts sod for $25m ‘Ghana ICT Hub’ – 28 March 2023
•  Dr Addison appeals to MPs to prioritize revenue bills – 28 March 2023
• Soldier slaps policeman provoking violent clash in Accra Central – 27 March 2023

Ghana recorded four deaths and 116 confirmed cases of the Monkeypox disease in 2022, in 14 out of the 16 regions.

Two deaths were recorded in Upper East and one each in the Greater Accra and Central regions.

The Savannah and Ahafo regions did not record any cases, Dr Farida Abdulai, the Deputy Director, Ghana Health Service (GHS), disclosed during a community stakeholder engagement at Ningo-Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.

It was organised by the GHS, in collaboration with the USAID Breakthrough Action-Ghana programme, to educate the public on measures to overcome the disease.

Dr Abdulai said Monkeypox could affect anyone despite the age, disclosing that a 13-day old baby got infected and died.

However, more than half of the confirmed cases were aged between 16 and 39 years.

In August, 2022, Monkeypox was renamed ‘Mpox’ to stem stigmatisation, she said, and that the virus spread through respiratory droplets and close contact with the rashes of an infected person.

Dr Abdulai mentioned the symptoms to include acute fever with a body temperature of more than 38 degrees Celsius, coughing, cold, backache, sore throat, weakness, and rashes.

“Therefore, seek immediate medical attention anytime you experience these symptoms,” she said, and that a free lab test would be run to determine whether one had the infection or not.

The result is then taken to the National Public Health Reference Lab for confirmation.

Dr Abdulai advised against the intake of alcohol or bathing in the sea as treatment of the disease as those were mere myths.

“Those are not the remedy for the sickness, rather seek proper health care services,” she stated.

GNA

• About
• Latest Posts

Newscenta

Latest posts by Newscenta (see all)

• MTN cuts sod for $25m ‘Ghana ICT Hub’ – 28 March 2023
•  Dr Addison appeals to MPs to prioritize revenue bills – 28 March 2023
• Soldier slaps policeman provoking violent clash in Accra Central – 27 March 2023