The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, hosted a vital stakeholder engagement on 30th April 2025 at AH Hotel to plan for the establishment of a maternal immunization safety monitoring programme in Ghana. This is part of an ongoing maternal immunization safety monitoring programme between regulators and researchers in Ghana and Kenya that aims to pilot a safety monitoring system for maternal vaccines. The FDA is collaborating with the Kintampo & Dodowa Health Research Centres in this project.
In her welcome speech, the FDA CEO, Dr. Delese Darko stated that a more active safety monitoring approach, through the establishment of maternal registries, is needed to complement the spontaneous monitoring of maternal vaccines.
When this is established, it will be the first as most registries on the continent are for medicines and not vaccines.
With new vaccines like the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and upcoming Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine candidates, robust monitoring systems are more important than ever
The FDA is committed to science, transparency, and data-driven decision-making, which leads to public health and safety. Insights from this meeting will inform national and global health policy. Stakeholder input is shaping this project from the ground up.
A great appreciation goes to the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, for his appreciation of patient safety and timeliness of this initiative. In his opinion, maternal immunization safety monitoring perfectly complements the Service’s efforts in reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. He expressed that healthy pregnancies ensure healthy maternal outcomes, contributing to a right start for the child to have a healthy life.
The FDA is grateful to the Gates Foundation for their generous support. Together, we are safeguarding the health of mothers and newborns.
