Annual African Vaccination and Child Health Promotion Weeks commemorated; calls for increase access to essential services
The 2025 African Vaccination and Child Health Promotion Weeks have been launched at the Kwesimintsim Hospital within the Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly, EKMA, with a call on caregivers to prioritize the health needs of their wards.
The aim of this programme is to raise awareness on the value and importance of immunisation, community ownership, the need to increase vaccination coverage, and other child health interventions.
Launched under the theme “Every Child Deserves a Healthy Future: Invest in Your Child. Attend ‘weighing’ regularly”, to intensify awareness about essential child health services, particularly those offered freely at various health centres and outreach points by the Ghana Health Service.
Throughout the commemorative weeks, parents and caregivers are encouraged to take children under five years to the nearest health center or outreach point to access a range of free services.
These essential health services include;
Immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, and deworming
Growth monitoring, nutrition assessment, and birth registration
Provision and promotion of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs)
Nutrition counseling
Health promotion and education in all health facilities across the country.
Medical Superintendent of Kwesimintsim Hospital, Dr. Simon Osei Frimpong, emphasized the importance of protecting children from communicable and non-communicable diseases.
He advised mothers and caregivers to provide their wards with the needed nutrients to grow well and be free from diseases.
Dr. Osei Frimpong observed that, per the records from the health facility, diabetes and hypertension are on the rise, which he attributed to lack of physical exercise, poor eating habits, and other factors in children.
