We have paid UNICEF $6.4m for the supply of children’s vaccines – Minister of Health
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu has announced that a payment of up to $6.4 million has been made to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to provide three key childhood vaccines that are lacking in Ghana.
Appearing before Parliament on Thursday, March 9, to answer questions about the shortage, the Minister of Health said that some key procurement and shipping activities were part of the reason for the delay in supply.
Asked about the amount paid for the vaccine from the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi North constituency, Theresa Awuni, the Minister disclosed that “we have paid about $6.4 million from the same Cedi to UNICEF who provided the vaccine.”
He also said that a large part of the funding for the vaccine was provided by the National Health Insurance Authority in tranches.
“I have a template on how this money will be released; NHIA transferred GH¢25 million in June 2022. We also have another GH¢10.5 million in October, we have GH¢13.1 in November and the last tranche of around GH¢23 million in December. All this amounts to GH¢ 71.8 million, and we budgeted this amount on the basis of GH¢ 6 to the dollar, but we all know that the Cedi does not trade in that amount, so we have shortfalls in the belly of the dollar and that is what caused the delay .”
Ghana has been hit by an acute childhood vaccine shortage since October 2022 which has left thousands of babies across the country unvaccinated.
The minister failed to give a definite timeline for the supply of the vaccine.
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