The founder and CEO of the Sunyani-based Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), an anti-corruption NGO, Raphael Godlove Ahenu, has voiced concern over the low nationwide coverage of the Hepatitis B Birth Dose (HepB-BD) vaccination among newborns.
Mr Ahenu cited World Health Organisation data revealing that despite the global availability of an effective vaccine, only around 16 percent of babies in Ghana receive it within the first 24 hours of birth.
This low coverage is due to several factors, including a lack of public awareness, limited availability and access to the vaccine, and the absence of HepB-BD in routine immunization programs.
Ahenu highlighted these issues while launching a new advocacy initiative aimed at boosting awareness and increasing the vaccination rate of HepB-BD in the country.
He called for the inclusion of HepB-BD in the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) to ensure all newborns receive the vaccine within the crucial first 24 hours of life.
The campaign, titled “Hepatitis-Free Ghana,” seeks not only to improve coverage but also to ensure the timely administration of the HepB-BD vaccine nationwide.
This could be achieved through policy reforms, strengthening healthcare provider capabilities, and raising public awareness, ultimately reducing mother-to-child transmission of Hepatitis B and contributing to the eradication of the virus by 2030.
“The absence of a national policy mandating the administration of HepB-BD further exacerbates the situation, leaving many babies at risk of perinatal transmission”, he stated.
Mr Ahenu indicated that advocacy on HepB-BD vaccination was, therefore, critical to address the high rates of the virus infection in the country, saying integrating the inclusion of HepB-BD in the EPI remained essential in ensuring that all newborns were vaccinated within 24 hours of birth.
That would further require a concerted approach and collective engagement of key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, healthcare providers, traditional and religious leaders, and civil society organisations in raising awareness, allocation of resources, and prioritisation of the vaccine’s integration into routine immunization schedules.
Mr Clement Boateng, the Country Director, of GLoMeF, said Hepatitis “B” posed a significant threat to public health, saying the viral disease contributed to chronic cancers and related diseases as well as premature death.
He said the virus infection acquired in infancy or early childhood was likely to become chronic, with up to about 90 per cent of infected babies developing lifelong infection.
Preventing Hepatitis “B” infections and transmissions at birth remains crucial for reducing the overall burden of the disease in the country.
Mr Boateng explained that the advocacy campaign would increase public awareness and demand the HepB-BD vaccination, by reaching at least one million people nationwide, including expectant mothers and caregivers, with information about the disease prevention and other benefits of the birth dose.
That would be achieved through organizing community-based forums, screening exercises, mass media outreaches, church-to-church activities, school education and partnerships with local organizations.
The Ghana Partnership Against Hepatitis (GPAH), a consortium of local organizations across the 16 regions of the country is implementing the advocacy campaign, Mr Boateng added.
