The Ghana Health Service has released 300,000 doses of vaccines for free distribution in the three northern regions following the outbreak there of the deadly Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM). Ten persons have so far died of the disease in the Northern Region, while 23 others are responding to treatment in various hospitals. The health officer in charge of the distribution, Ms Amina Seidu, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, said her outfit would ensure that the vaccines reached the areas most prone to the disease. She said 100,000 doses of the vaccines had been distributed to various districts in the Northern Region, while 80,000 doses each had been forwarded to the Upper East and Upper West regions. Ms Seidu also said that the consignment of vaccines to be distributed to Bole, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and other areas bordering Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire, had been increased due to an outbreak of the disease in those two neighbouring countries. “Even though the disease is not contagious, extreme weather conditions which caused the outbreak of the disease in the two neighbouring countries, may also affect Ghanaian towns bordering those two countries, she stated. According to her, the vaccines would not be enough to serve the three regions and thus some rationing was needed to ensure that areas which were considered hot spots for the disease were targeted. “The rationing would also ensure that stocks of the vaccines are not used up, so that any outbreak in any parts of the three regions of northern Ghana could be catered for," she added. “The vaccines we have now can only prevent types A and C of the disease and not others like W135,” she added. Source: Daily Graphic