Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies have been urged to timeously release funds allotted for immunisation and in the right amount.

They have also been urged to incorporate immunisation financing into their plans and budget to ensure that they are committed to and intentional about efficient immunisation service delivery to protect children.

These formed part of the recommendations of a study on immunisation budget credibility, which was released at a zonal stakeholders’ dialogue in Tamale.

Stakeholders including district directors of health, representatives from MMDAs and Regional Coordinating Councils and Regional Health Directorates from the northern sector attended the forum to discuss the study and the way forward in addressing the gaps identified by the study.

SEND GHANA, a civil society organisation, with funding support from the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the International Budget Partnership undertook the study in 2022 in five selected MMDAs including Asuogyaman, Ho, Shia Osudoku, Tatali-Sangule, and Kassena Nankana to assess the financial or budgetary commitments for immunisation at the national and MMDAs levels.

Amongst the findings of the study was the inadequate and late release of funds towards immunisation by MMDAs, which impeded the implementation of immunisation outreach service delivery to meet timelines and targets given that immunisation services were time-bound.

The study argued that the implication of the inadequate and late release of funds was that some children, who needed immunisation, might not be reached with all the required vaccines, a situation, which would affect the health of the future generation.

The study called on the Ministry of Finance to have a separate budget line for allocation to immunisation in the national health budget and encourage MMDAs to do the same to help ensure easy tracking of immunisation expenditure.

Stakeholders acknowledged that there was poor funding and late release of funds towards immunisation activities and expressed the need for MMDAs and District Health Management Teams to deepen collaboration to share their priorities on time to see how best to prioritise resources towards immunisation to protect children.

Haruna Mahamud, Northern Regional Budget Officer said a lot more needed to be done by MMDAs to improve allocation towards immunisation expressing the need for the MMDAs to step up their efforts at improving the situation.

Mumuni Mohammed, Regional Programme Manager of SEND GHANA urged MMDAs to prioritise issues of immunisation and take relevant steps to not only budget for immunisation but to also release the funds on time to adequately prosecute immunisation activities.