On Tuesday, February, 28, 2023, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu and other agency heads failed to honor an invitation from parliament to respond to issues regarding the shortage of vaccines for children.
For the past few months, certain vaccines needed for the routine immunization of infants from 12 to at least 18 months have been scarce without a readily available solution.
The measles-rubella vaccination, the BCG vaccine, and the poliovirus vaccine, according to Ghana Health Service (GHS), are the vaccines that are out of stock.
The vaccines were planned for purchase in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Speaking to the media, the Director General of GHS, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, indicated that the service was unable to purchase the aforementioned vaccines due to the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
The Ghana Health Service, the Finance Minister, and other agency heads were subsequently invited by the Parliament’s Health Committee to an urgent meeting on Tuesday, February 28 in response to the troubling situation.
With the exception of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), The Minister of Health and the other heads of agencies, however, did not show up for the meeting.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, February, 28, Chairman of the Health Committee, Nana Ayew Afriyie stated that with the exception of the Health Ministry’s Chief Director, who said the Ministry had written to the Committee to request an extension, the other agencies had not provided specific justifications for not honouring the invitation.
“Unfortunately for us this morning, the Minister of Health is not here and the Ghana Health Service is not here, the Vaccine Control Programme is not here, but we have the National Health Insurance Authority and business will however go on.
“I am not aware of the reasons why the state agencies are not here, but I have just been on the phone with the Ministry of Health’s Chief Director, and she told me that she has sent a letter to the Committee asking for a rescheduling of the date to March 7 because of the unavoidable absence of the Minister, but I am yet to see a letter to that effect,” he added.