The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, revealed that the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation will soon remove Ghana from its list of beneficiaries.
According to Mr. Agyemang-Manu, the GAVI initiative will not supply Ghana with free vaccines following its attainment of lower middle-income status.
GAVI, or the Vaccine Alliance, is an independent public-private collaboration and multilateral financial organisation that aims at boosting worldwide access to the use of vaccinations, particularly among disadvantaged children.
Ghana needs to be self-sufficient in the production of vaccines, Mr. Agyemang-Manu said during the commissioning of the Ghana Vaccine Institute’s new office complex in Accra.
“Even though the GAVI alliance funds roughly 80% of Ghana’s vaccination, by the year 2027 we will need to stop receiving GAVI financing since we have attained a lower middle-income level.”
In order to make President Akufo-Addo’s goal of Ghana becoming a centre for the manufacture of vaccines a reality, Mr. Agyemang-Manu stated that the government has subsequently drafted the national vaccination strategy.
On May 10, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo charged the National Vaccine Institute’s newly appointed Board with the critical duty of prioritising Ghana’s self-sufficiency and minimising the country’s reliance on external sources for essential vaccines.
The prestigious Board was sworn in at a ceremony in Accra under the leadership of the renowned Dr. Anarfi Asamoah Baah, Head of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The President emphasised in his speech the importance of the Institute accelerating the nation’s ability to produce its own vaccines.
