By Dundas Whigham
CEO of Concern Health Education Project Mr Isaac Ampomah interacting with participants
An Accra based Non Governmental Organisation, Concern Health Education Project (CHEP) in partnership with the Ghana Coalition of Health with support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) organised a programme during the weekend in some selected areas in Accra to educate head porters (kayayees) on the importance of immunisation.
The selected areas included Tema Station, Osu, and Mensah Guinea [ads1]area; some of these areas are mostly slum communities.
Chief Executive Officer of CHEP Mr. Isaac Ampomah stated that the work nature of head porters is hampering the immunisation process where many of them have failed to immunise their children.
“Due to the nature of work of head porters, they do not visit health facility [to immunise their children]; hence the need to mobilise and educate them by volunteers of CHEP”.
“During the usual immunisation hours, most of the targeted population [head porters] are busy doing business and do not attend to the child welfare health services. As a result, CHEP together with the health workers meet solely on Sundays to gather this section of the population for immunization services”, Mr. Ampomah noted.
Some participants
He also added that the programme volunteers targeted population of children under five, pregnant mothers, educated nursing mothers, and fathers on the importance of child immunization and mobilized them for nearby health centers for immunisation to be carried out on their children.
Mr. Ampomah stated that a lack of adequate number of front line health workers is directly affecting the immunization process negatively.
He further noted that poor infrastructure and weaker capacities of health workers with its accompanying logistics is also affecting the uptake of immunization services and general health care services.
He recommended that ministers of state and various individuals should be involved in the immunization program to ensure adequate domestic financing for the programme.