GhanaPoliticsOnline.Com
The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has alleged that the vaccines Ghana took delivery of over the weekend were begged from Nigeria.
He said vaccine will be replaced when the country takes delivery of what it has imported.
Until their arrival from Nigeria, there was a widespread shortage of some vaccines used for routine immunisation of babies from birth to at least 18 months in the country.
In a Facebook post, Ablakwa said the vaccine “consignment came in from Nigeria as a benevolent gesture which the Ghanaian government has promised to replace when it finally puts its house in order. There is absolutely nothing wrong saying THANK YOU to a neighbour who exhibits superior public health policies, better prioritization, and who responds positively and swiftly when you come begging”.
“Ghanaian officials should not be concealing this fact and therefore appearing ungrateful within the comity of nations even though I acknowledge that an honest and transparent narrative from government will further expose false claims by President Akufo-Addo during his Message on the State of the Nation last week that childhood vaccine shortage was a global phenomenon,” Mr. Ablakwa added.
Mr. Ablakwa further attributed the shortages that have put many newborns in danger to the government’s incompetence and blatant disregard for the World Health Organization’s warning sometime last year.
“Ghana’s childhood vaccine crisis could have been prevented if the Akufo-Addo government had not ineptly ignored WHO stock-out warnings since July last year.”
“We must be profoundly grateful to Nigeria for their kindness, however, I do hope the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration will find a permanent solution as the Nigerian donation can only last for 6 weeks,” Mr. Ablakwa further stressed.
