Vaccine Hesitancy in Ghana: Editors Pledge to Intensify Advocacy on Its Uptake.

About thirty (30) Editors drawn across the country have pledged their commitment to intensify media advocacy on in-take of vaccine in the country.

Meeting vaccination target for certain diseases, has been challenging to the Ghana Health Service due to vaccine hesitancy, attributable to myths, fears, misinformation, as well as anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, safety and efficacy concerns.

It is against this background that the Editors have expressed their willingness to move a notch higher in using their media platforms to lead the way as far as sensitization is concerned.

This came to light at an Editors’ Forum on Vaccines Uptake in Ghana, organized in Accra on Friday (March 1, 2024) by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) with support from WHO and the Ghana Health Service.

One of the Editors, Akwasi Agyeman of Adom FM told Newsflashafrica.com in an interview that this forum is a great initiative “because it enables the media to understand the issues better and know where to seek information from to buttress our story or publications”.

Editor of Joy News, Mr. Fred Smith emphasized the need for the media to be keenly involved in addressing the challenges of vaccine hesitancy adding that “the Ghana Health service and AMMREN can not do it alone”.

“I think I have learnt a lot from the training. Now it behoves on me to use my station to re-echo what has been discussed so that together we can do away with vaccine hesitancy and help the Ghana Health Service to achieve its target on vaccination “, Mr. Enoch Asare aka Feeling Daddy who is the business manager of Empire FM stressed.

The Editors were taken through two presentations thus: “Updates on Ghana’s Immunization” Improving Vaccine uptake in Ghana, the Role of the Media”.

Speaking at the forum, the Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Dr. Charity Binka explained that the Forum has been necessitated by vaccine hesitancy in the country which she said is attributable to myths, fears, misinformation, as well as anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, safety and efficacy concerns.

In her view, this forum would help rally the media around vaccine hesitancy (VH) and help the Ghana Health service to achieve its target on VH.

Dr. Binka also indicated that aside this Forum, AMMREN intends to train about 70 Health Journalists across the country and sensitize them on vaccine hesitancy.

She also revealed that a National Media Vaccine Network would be formed by AMMREN to monitor vaccine uptake in the country.

The Head of Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Dr. Kwame Amponsah-Achiano emphasized that the major myth around the covid-19 vaccine was infertility .

He therefore called for more awareness on vaccine uptake to reduce the conspiracy theories associated with it.

In this regard, he said the media is needed to lead the way.

On his part, the GJA President, Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour commended AMMREN for the initiative and called on the Editors to use the media platforms to set the Vaccine hesitancy agenda.

“we have the potential to combat vaccine hesitancy by leveraging the influence we wield within our respective media organizations to dispel the myth surrounding this issue known as VH”, the GJA President emphasized.

He later expressed the GJA’s commitment to collaborate with AMMREN in resolving the issues associated with VH and immunization.

Source:newsflashafrica