Vaccine-safety-related events, and how we respond to them, can affect public trust in vaccines and health authorities. These events may or may not be linked to vaccines and include adverse events following immunization (AEFIs), vaccination programme changes, or events that lead to increased negative public debate on the topic of immunization.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) with support from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) is set to implement and roll out Ghana’s Vaccine Related Events Response Plan as part of its mandate of protecting public health and safety as enjoined by the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851).
Mrs Delese Mimi Darko, Chief Executive Officer, FDA added that the FDA is the state institution mandated to ensure the protection of public health and safety.
Ghana has administered close to fifteen (15) million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with ten (10) million persons benefitting from a vaccine, Ghana Health Service (GHS) said.
Dr Kwame Amponsah-Achiana, the Programme Manager, Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), GHS, made this known in a stakeholder’s engagement on a draft Vaccine Related Events (VRE) Response Plan for Ghana at the Erata Hotel in East Legon.
Vaccine- and vaccination-related events require a communication response that is different from the communication strategies used to promote the benefits and importance of vaccines in general. The draft Vaccine Related Events (VRE) response plan presented the technical guidance needed to develop a communication plan that is appropriate for managing crises related to vaccine safety. The draft VRE plan will be useful for managers in the areas of immunization and vaccine and vaccination safety. They will also help preparedness and response teams working in safety crises to optimize their communication plans in order to regain, maintain, or strengthen trust in vaccines, vaccination, and immunization programs in general.
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Dr. Amponsah-Achiano, speaking on the significance of vaccines in saving lives, noted that even though the use of vaccines did not guarantee 100 per cent eradication of diseases, it was imperative for Ghana to have a blueprint, which would serve as a guideline for pre vaccine and post vaccine events.
A VRE Response plan helps ensure that a coordinated national plan for responding to VREs is in place, he said.
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The purpose of the stakeholder’s engagement was to share and comprehensively review the draft to make the document fit for purpose, Dr Mrs Yvonne Adu-Boahen, Head, Clinical Trials Department of the FDA said.
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Mrs. Rhoda Appiah said the FDA had produced a Med Safety App, an application which was free and available on Andriod or IPhone Operating System (iOS) for reporting side effects of medicines and other health products in Ghana to FDA, and feedback sent immediately.
In an overview of the document, Mrs. Rhoda Appiah, Head of Communications and Public Education Department, FDA said the draft VRE response plan was in four phases including Preparation for a VRE, Detecting VRE for effective monitoring, Responding to VRE as well as Sustaining Post VRE through feedback and evaluations.
Considering the important role the stakeholders and the media play in the promotion of public health and safety, the FDA is grateful to you for the enormous support we have enjoyed over the years, she said.
Mrs. Appiah said stakeholders played significant roles in the making of a VRE document fit for purpose and expressed the hope that such interactions would go a long way to strengthen the partnership between the authority and the stakeholders.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) with support from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) organized the event at the Erata Hotel in East Legon.
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