The Church Partners with Ghana Health Service to Vaccinate 5.2 Million Children in Four Days

With a generous donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ghana Health Services (GHS), during a broadly attended kick-off ceremony held on October 1, 2024, launched a four-day nationwide campaign to combat Ghana's second-largest killer of children. Next to malaria, measles and rubella are the most deadly childhood diseases in the country. The campaign will provide free vaccinations against those diseases and provide Vitamin A supplements for all Ghanaian children between 9 and 59 months.

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The global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of the national health system, including routine immunization schedules. As a result, the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases, including measles and ubella, has re-emerged, occasioning the need for a national vaccination campaign. Ghana Health Services has partnered with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the CDC and other health organizations to address this need. The Church was also invited to participate because of its strong relationship with GHS.  

Since the vaccines are free of charge, the greatest challenge to the effectiveness of this campaign is getting the information distributed across the country. Parents can’t help their children take advantage of these free vaccinations if they don’t know about them. Emphasizing this challenge to attendees of the launch ceremony, Dr. Patrick Kama-Aboagye, Director General of GHS, explained that across Ghana, families “must be informed and empowered to bring their children to vaccination sites, and we will set up health facilities, schools, mobile outreach points across the country.”

Ghana Health Services will provide over 10,000 vaccination sites across the country to try to vaccinate approximately 5.2 million children over a brief span of four days. To minimize the risk of widespread measles outbreaks, it is critical to ensure that at least 95% of the young population has, at some point, been vaccinated. The long-range goal is to maintain measles incidences of less than 1 per million.

To assist in reaching these goals, the Church’s donation targeted communication activities, specifically the print portion of the campaign, to ensure that the information is distributed across the country. Communications strategies include live radio and TV discussion programs, jingles, social media, leaflets, infographics, fact sheets, and more, all presented in different versions in English, Twi, Ewe, Ga, and other languages spoken across Ghana.

Sister Marian Esiape, manager of the Africa West Area Welfare and Self-Reliance Services, addressed the ceremony attendees and explained the Church’s interest in participating: “During his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ showed unwavering love for children, healed the sick, cared for the poor and the needy. His compassion continues to inspire us today. Following His example, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are devoted to serving those in need, and today, with a special focus on children. Through volunteer work, collaboration, and general donations, we reach communities around the world offering healing, support, and the tools for self-reliance.”

Following all remarks, the project was officially launched, and the meeting concluded with a demonstration of the roll-out as nurses vaccinated a couple of children in the meeting hall.