Wa West District reaches 92% yellow fever vaccination coverage

The Wa West District has achieved a 92% vaccination coverage rate in its ongoing campaign against yellow fever. Dr. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), announced the milestone, noting that the campaign has successfully reached 225,446 individuals between the ages of nine months and 60 years. Despite this high coverage, the GHS is intensifying efforts to reach the remaining 8% of the targeted population to ensure full protection across the district.

To bridge the gap and achieve 100% coverage, Dr. Akoriyea has dispatched 100 motorbikes to the district to enhance the mobility of health workers. These vehicles are specifically intended to help teams reach remote areas and nomadic communities that have proven difficult to access. A significant challenge identified during the exercise is the lower participation rate among men and the difficulty of tracking mobile populations such as nomadic herdsmen. To address these hurdles, the GHS plans to implement house-to-house vaccination strategies and collaborate with Veterinary Services to better locate and vaccinate nomadic groups.

The Director-General reassured the public that the yellow fever vaccine is free, safe, and internationally approved. Out of the hundreds of thousands vaccinated in this exercise, only one instance of a mild headache has been reported as a side effect. Dr. Akoriyea called on traditional leaders and community elders to use their influence to encourage any remaining unvaccinated residents to participate, emphasizing that a healthy population is a vital foundation for national development.

While the vaccination drive has seen significant success, local health infrastructure remains under considerable pressure. In areas such as Siriyiri, for example, only two nurses are currently available to serve a population of approximately 2,360 people. The provision of motorbikes and the deployment of specialized house-to-house teams are expected to mitigate some of these personnel and logistical constraints as the GHS strives to eliminate the threat of yellow fever in the region.