2018 Yellow Fever vaccination campaign launched in Sunyani

This year’s national launch of the Yellow Fever vaccination exercise, which starts on Wednesday 28 to Tuesday December 4, 2018, has taken place in Sunyani.

About 5,747 health workers, 17,000 volunteers and 958 supervisors are standing-by to ensure that 5,364,272 people aged ten to 60 years are vaccinated during the exercise which would be undertaken in 65 districts in nine regions.

The Upper West region is the only region which will not be covered because the entire region has already been taken care of.

Speaking at the launch, the National Co-ordinator of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), Dr. George Bonsu said the vaccination exercise would cover people whose ages range from ten to 60 excluding pregnant women.

He stressed that vaccination is free and that under no circumstance should anyone pay any amount in order to be vaccinated.

According to Dr. Bonsu, there has been 962 confirmed cases of the Yellow fever disease in nine countries over the last three years. The affected countries include Angola, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Brazil, Surinam, French Guiana and China.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare called on all stakeholders to get on board to make this year’s vaccination exercise a success.

He also added his voice on the need for people to avoid making any payments to anyone to be vaccinated.

Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Martin Oti Gyarko hoped that this year’s exercise would record at least 95% coverage and appealed to chiefs and queens to lead the campaign in educating the public about the exercise.

Yellow fever is a viral disease transmitted by a bite from infected mosquitoes, mainly Aedes egyptia. This type of mosquito breeds in the little water collected in axils of leaves such as plantain and banana leaves.

The disease manifests itself by fever, jaundice, headaches, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. About 15% of infected persons develop severe complications and approximately half of them die in seven to ten days.

There is no treatment for Yellow Fever. However, the disease is prevented by an effective vaccine, which is safe and affordable. A single dose of yellow fever vaccine is sufficient to provide life-long protection. ([email protected])