[ad_1]
The Ghana Health Service (GES) Expanded Program on Immunization Program Director congratulated Ghanaians for their interest and commitment to the ongoing Covid-19 mass vaccination exercise.
Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano said the Service was impressed with the massive turnout of Ghanaians in the exercise centers despite previous skepticism it had due to misconceptions about vaccine safety.
In a media interview on the sidelines of the National Congress of Community Health Nurses of Ghana (CHNG) in Accra on Thursday, Amponsa-Achiano said the GHS was overwhelmed by the level of interest and favoritism among Ghanaians.
The three-day delegate congress, hosted by CHNG and the Ghana Nurses and Midwives Association, was to elect leaders to manage the affairs of community health nurses.
It was under the theme: “Harnessing the Perspectives of Community Nurses as the Pivotal to Achieving Preventive Health as a Nation.”
Dr Amponsa-Achiano said: “Initially, due to hesitation and conspiracy theories, we were a little skeptical and cautiously optimistic, but the turnout was impressive,” he said.
However, he attributed the high participation rate to the awareness exercise undertaken by GHS prior to the registration of the exercise.
He said that to date, around 30,500 people had been vaccinated as of Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
“Of this total, around 16,990 of them are men and 13,450 are women,” he said.
He further revealed that around 11,500 frontline health workers had also been vaccinated.
On February 24, Ghana received 600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine free of charge from the COVAX facility. The government is seeking to vaccinate around 20 million of the population against the virus.
Dr Amponsa-Achiano said GHS is considering extending the duration of exercise from seven to 14 days due to certain issues including malfunctioning tablets and overcrowding seen in some districts and areas.
“Initially, we hope to complete the first phase within 7 days, but due to some challenges faced in some districts and regions, we intend to extend the duration for another seven days,” he explained.
He commended frontline health workers, especially community health nurses, for their selfless efforts in delivering health care in hard-to-reach communities across the country.
Ms Perpetual Ofori Ampoful, President of GRNMA, said the role of community health nurses could not be underestimated in achieving universal health coverage as they were located in the most remote places of the country.
She therefore assured the group of the Association’s support to ensure better conditions of service.
She called for a unified force among healthcare groups to ensure their needs are met.
“We need a unified force to achieve better working conditions. At all times, we have to sing the same song so that our stakeholders appreciate and respect us when we talk about certain issues, ”Ms. Ampoful said.
Mr. Felix Hagan, interim president of CHNG, called on the Ministry of Health and its agencies to prioritize the implementation of conditions of service for community health nurses in order to reduce their plight.
He called for improved health care delivery in communities to eradicate communicable diseases such as polio, smallpox and guinea worm.
The CHNG is one of the 17 specialized groups of the GRNMA.
Source link
