PILOT IMPLEMENTATION- MALARIA VACCINES

From 16th to 19th February 2021, the Volta Regional Office of Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) embarked on a three-day training for health workers in the Oti Region.

The training was held to build capacity for healthcare workers in the early detection of adverse events following the pilot implementation of malaria vaccine in Ghana which began on 1st May 2019.
The Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) was established by the World Health Organization to coordinate and support the phased introduction of the vaccine- (Mosquirix) in selected countries in Africa including Ghana, Malawi and Kenya through a country-led routine immunization.

To ensure effective training while adhering to the COVID-19 protocols, eight districts in the Oti Region namely, Krachi East, Krachi West, Krachi Nchumuru, Nkwata South and Nkwata North, Kadjebi, Jasikan and Biakoye districts were grouped into three zones.

Mr. Goka Gameli Kwesi, a Regulatory Officer, who gave a speech on behalf of the Regional Head noted that proper documentation was key to ensuring successful monitoring and implementation of the project.
He said that, the FDA would continue to play its role as enshrined in the Public Health Act to ensure the protection of public health and safety. Mr. Gameli entreated the participants to take the exercise seriously in order to meet the intended objectives.

The Oti Regional Disease Surveillance Officer, Mr. Thomas Vigbedor in giving the background of the training, said that currently there are forty-two implementing districts in seven regions of Ghana.
He added that following the implementation, some challenges that have been identified include difficulties in understanding the details to be reported, inadequate collaboration among key stakeholders, poor investigation and documentation of serious adverse events. He was however optimistic that the training would address these challenges.

Mrs. Adela Ashie, a Senior Regulatory Officer of the FDA's Safety Monitoring Department at the Head office and a facilitator of the training, urged the participants to put into practice the information they acquired.
She said that at the end of the ongoing training period, it is expected that there will be an improvement on the quality of reports as well as an increase in the number of reports received.