A paediatric resident at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Nelly Adade, has stated that it is high time Ghanaians produce their own vaccines for children.

Every child, right from birth, has to be vaccinated regularly to keep them strong and healthy. It is important for children between zero and five years old to visit the clinic every six months for the vaccine to be administered to them.

However, children between zero and five years are prone to many health complications if they are not vaccinated. Ghana has been dealing with an alarming shortage of vaccines for children for some time.

This is why Dr. Adade, a strong advocate, is stressing the importance of routine vaccination in children and has openly stated that, though there are international bodies providing vaccines for children worldwide, it is high time Ghana produces its own vaccines.

She made these comments while speaking to Asieduwaa Akumia on Prime Morning on Thursday.

"International bodies come together to produce and distribute vaccines to communities or countries that are in the society, and Ghana happens to find itself in one of these organizations… and I think it’s high time we also started looking at producing our own vaccines in-house in the country. We have to start having that discussion, looking at the funding and what it will take," she said.

Dr. Nelly Adade also emphasised the fact that vaccines for children are free. According to her, anyone caught in the act of selling these vaccines should be reported to the authorities immediately.

She advised parents to visit the nearest hospitals in their communities every six months for free access to these vaccines for their children.

"So please, the vaccines are free. You don’t have to pay anything to get your child vaccinated unless you go to a facility and are told, "Bring some money. I can arrange for you to get the vaccine. Please, it’s a lie. It’s a scam, so please report the person… "All you have to do is find yourself at a health facility that is closer to you," she said.

The paediatric resident explained that although doctors cannot tell when the next consignment of vaccines for children will be brought into the country, parents should make a conscious effort to use the ones available now to ensure healthy growth of children.