Health News of Monday, 13 February 2017

Source: GNA

African Heads of State express commitment to advance immunisation

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Heads of State from across Africa have endorsed the Addis Declaration on Immunisation (ADI), a historic and timely pledge to ensure that everyone in Africa receives full benefits of immunisation.

The endorsement was issued during the 28th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday, January 30, 2017.

A statement issued by the Africa Regional Office of the World Health Organisation, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said immunisation was one of the most effective interventions for reducing child mortality, however, even today, one in five children in Africa still lacked access to life-saving vaccines.

It said while immunisation rates in Ghana was around 88 per cent there was still more work to be done to make sure that every child had access to life-saving vaccines.

The statement said the ADI committed countries to increase political, financial and technical resources to achieve universal access to immunisation.