ACCRA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Ghana witnessed a decline in the number of children fully vaccinated in the country between 2014 and 2022, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said.
In a press release late Tuesday ahead of the 2024 World Immunization Week, which starts on Wednesday this year, the GSS said the number of children aged 24 to 35 months who were fully vaccinated declined by 15.1 percent between 2014 and 2022.
"At least 57.6 percent of children in this age range had not been fully vaccinated in 2022, compared to about 42.5 percent in 2014," said the GSS.
Moreover, it said the percentage of girls not fully vaccinated was higher than that of boys in the same category.
"At least 59.6 percent of girls in this age range had not been fully vaccinated relative to 55.6 percent of boys in the age range not fully vaccinated," the statement added.
According to Ghana's national schedule, children aged between 24 and 35 months should have a total of 12 different specified vaccinations to receive to fully protect them against critical childhood killer diseases.
According to the World Health Organization, World Immunization Week, celebrated in the last week of April, aims to recognize collective efforts to save and improve countless lives from vaccine-preventable diseases and call on countries to ramp up investments in immunization programs to protect the next generations. ■
