The Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) has appealed to parents and caregivers to avail their children for the ongoing polio vaccination exercise.
Mr Gershon Dzokoto, the Volta Regional Director of the GRCS, made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a sensitisation programme at Hodzo, a farming community in the Ho Municipality.
The Regional Directorate of the Society visited the community to educate the members on the second round of the polio vaccination and the need to make their children available to be immunised to ensure their protection against the virus.
The Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Red Cross Society started the Round Two of the vaccination on October 6 and expected to end on October 9, 2022.
Mr Dzokoto said the sensitisation formed part of their risk communication engagement and social mobilisation efforts to get citizens to comply with preventive and safety protocols to remain healthy.
He said the Directorate had covered the entire Ho Municipality with the sensitisation and urged the citizens to join the campaign against polio and other public health emergencies.
Mr Dzokoto said the vaccine, which was safe and effective, was the only way to prevent the spread of the virus, hence parents and caregivers must ensure their children were immunised.
He urged traditional and religious leaders to support the campaign by sensitising their community members and congregation, respectively to embrace the exercise.
Mr Ernest Akpo, a nurse at the Hodzo Community Health Facility, urged the community members to continue to observe good personal hygiene and sanitation practices to prevent transmission of the disease.
The exercise is on the theme: “Keep Polio Out of Ghana. Vaccinate Your Child Now!”
It is expected to help stem the transmission of poliovirus Type Two, maintain high population immunity, strengthen surveillance and prevent further outbreak.
Source:ghanaiantimes.com