Measles almost eradicated in Ghana – GHS Director

Ms Yvonne Graham-Hayfron, Mfantseman Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has stated that cases of measles have almost been eradicated in Ghana.

She said for the past five years no case of the disease had been reported in the Mfantseman Municipality.

Ms Graham-Hayfron made this known to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Saltpond.

She said the GHS was using this year’s immunization exercise as the last onslaught to fight against any traces of the disease hidden in any part of the country.

She said cases of suspected measles reported in the country proved to be “Rubella”, a German type of measles.

The Municipal Health Director said that has enforced the GHS to introduce double vaccination and immunization against measles and rubella this year, adding that, the vaccination exercise which started on September 11 would end on September 20, 2013 and would be administered on children of nine months old to 14 years.

Ms Graham-Hayfron said the GHS has trained health and community volunteers as facilitators for the exercise.

She said the municipality has targeted coverage of 62,970 children being 42 per cent of the total population of 149,930.

She said single vaccine immunization has been abolished and it was being replaced with double vaccine immunization.

Mr Edmund Bowah, Disease Control Officer said five cases of chicken pox had been reported in the municipality and that the health directorate would include education on chicken pox in the immunization exercise.

He appealed to the citizenry to cooperate with the health directorate to make the immunization programme a success.

Source: GNA