The Paediatrics Society of Ghana (PSG) has convened a regional workshop in Sunyani to arm frontline health workers with advocacy tools to counter rising vaccine misinformation and restore public confidence in immunisation programmes across the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo regions.
The one-day “Immunisation Champions Project” workshop, organised in collaboration with the International Paediatric Association (IPA), brought together health practitioners from the three regions as part of a broader initiative running from October 2025 to September 2028. The programme seeks to build a network of trained advocates capable of influencing health policy and driving lasting behavioural change at both community and national levels.
Bono Regional Director of Health Services Dr. Osei Kuffour Afreh said vaccine misinformation remained a persistent challenge despite Ghana’s considerable progress in immunisation since the national programme’s introduction in 1978. He called on health workers to take deliberate responsibility for providing accurate information, correcting false narratives, and rebuilding public trust wherever misinformation had taken hold. He described immunisation as one of Ghana’s most consequential public health achievements, noting its role in reducing child mortality and protecting generations of Ghanaians from vaccine-preventable diseases across nearly five decades.
PSG Chairman for the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo regions Dr. Jacqueline Asibey focused attention on the often-overlooked relationship between nutrition and immunisation outcomes, urging mothers and caregivers to prioritise adequate feeding practices beyond a child’s second year of life. “Good nutrition strengthens a child’s immune system and enhances the effectiveness of vaccines,” she said, arguing that empowering women with accurate nutritional knowledge was inseparable from the broader agenda of improving child survival rates.
Dr. Asibey also urged health professionals to intensify community outreach, stressing that overcoming vaccine hesitancy required sustained, direct engagement with families rather than institutional communication alone.
Participants at the workshop pledged to carry advocacy work back to their communities, highlighting the importance of engaging families, religious groups, and local leaders to address entrenched myths and build genuine confidence in vaccination. Many noted that trust was built incrementally through consistent presence, honest communication, and visible follow-through on health commitments.
The Sunyani workshop forms part of the wider IPA and PSG Immunisation Champions Project, which is designed to ensure that informed, trusted advocates are present at every level of Ghana’s health system as the country works to ensure no child is excluded from the protection that immunisation provides.
