The 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) Key Indicators Report has revealed that two out of every five children aged 12 to 23 months have not been fully vaccinated in adherence to the national schedule.
In a statement, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said that the Northern Region recorded the highest rate, with seven out of 10 children (70.8%) in the same age group not being vaccinated according to the national schedule.
“Six in every 10 have not been fully vaccinated in the Western (60.9%) and Savannah (58.4%) regions, which recorded the next highest percentages of children not fully vaccinated. About one in every 10 (9.0%) children aged 12 to 23 months in the Northern Region have not received any vaccination, the highest recorded, and almost five times the national average of 2.0 per cent,” the GSS survey revealed.
The statement added that Ahafo (8.3%) and Western (4.5%) regions had the next highest per cent of children in this age range that have not received any vaccinations.
With respect to the three anthropometric indices to measure the nutritional status of children age 5, the GSS said that 17.5 per cent of children under five years were stunted (low height-for-age), 12.5 per cent were underweight (low weight-for-age), and 6.0 per cent were wasted (low weight-for-height).
“Three in every 10 children under five years were stunted in the Northern (29.6%) and the North East (29.3%) regions, the highest rates”.
“North East (20.4%) and Northern (19.9%) also recorded the highest percentage of children under five years who were underweight. The Northern Region (7.9%) had the highest prevalence of wasting followed by the Ashanti (7.7%), Volta (7.4%), and Oti (7.3%) regions,” it added.
Moreover, the service disclosed that one in every two (49.0%) children under five years was anaemic, with 21.1 per cent being moderately anaemic and 0.8 per cent being severely anaemic.
“The highest rates of anaemia were recorded in the Northern (69.4%) and Upper East (69.3%) regions where seven in every 10 children under five years were anaemic,” it added.
