Madam Paulina Patience Abayage, the Upper East Regional Minister has urged the traditional authority in the Region to support the Yellow Fever vaccination by encouraging and mobilizing their people to patronize it.
She said their role as leaders and custodians of the people could play a major role in the vaccination exercise as the people would accept their call to turn out in their numbers for the exercise.
Mrs Abayage said this when she launched the Upper East Regional Yellow Fever vaccination campaign at Navrongo in the Kasena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region.
She said the Government was investing in health research to produce the needed vaccines to improve on infant health and would continue to expand immunization services and mass campaigns to eliminate communicable diseases.
“The Municipal and District Assemblies are supporting the exercise by demonstrating their routine community programmes that would make the people understand the essence of the vaccination”, she said.
The Navro Pio, Pe Dennis Aneakwoa Balinia Adda, the Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, said he and his sub Chiefs and elders were committed to playing their role by disseminating information on the vaccination to the people to help eradicate yellow fever in the area.
Dr Winfred Ofosu, the Upper East Regional Director of Health said a total number of 303,327 persons between the ages of 10 to 60 years, in the Region, were expected to receive the life time Yellow Fever vaccination aimed at protecting them against the disease.
Five districts including the Kassena-Nankana Municipal, Bongo, Talensi, Nabdam and the Kasena-Nankana West districts have started receiving the vaccination and it would end on December 4, 2018.
About 325 teams including health workers and volunteers have been trained to effectively execute the vaccination exercise, mobile teams are stationed at various communities and schools, while fixed teams are stationed at the various health facilities.