Close to 33,000 children have been left unvaccinated in the first quarter of 2020 with 12,000 in Greater Accra region alone.

That is according to Acting Director of Family Health at the Ghana Health Service Dr. Issabella Sagoe-Moses who says routine services like antenatal care and child welfare clinics are not being patronised as much as before.

She is worried these children are at a higher risk of contracting vaccine preventable diseases, adding “children still need to be protected against measles, polio, hepatitis B and all the 13 conditions that we immunise them against”. 

Speaking on the Am Show on JoyNews Thursday, Dr. Sagoe-Moses explained the lockdown played a role but generally, there is fear and panic about accessing health services.

“Our clients think that if they come to the health facility or they come anywhere near health providers, then they will be exposed to contracting Covid-19 and so they tend to stay away,” she said.

She admits though that in the beginning some of the health workers were also apprehensive but that situation, she says, is changing now that protective equipment is becoming more available.

With all the attention being focused on curbing the novel coronavirus disease, Dr. Sagoe-Moses said routine services are suffering and she is worried that unintended pregnancies may rise and this may lead to abortions; some of which may be illegal and unsafe.

Compared to data from the first quarter of 2018 and 2019, she said “the number of women coming to antenatal, the number of children being brought to child welfare and post natal clinic have all reduced”. 

Assuring the clinics are safe and encouraging patronage, the Acting Family Health Director said “every antenatal clinic has been asked to observe all recommendations for preventing infections” including screening of clients before they are admitted into the clinic.

Patients suspected of carrying the virus, she said, are handed to another team for testing.

She advised parents to get smaller size mask for children above 2 years when visiting the clinic.