The 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) Key Indicators Report has found that two out of every five children aged 12 to 23 months have not been fully vaccinated in adherence to the national schedule.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), in a statement, 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 percent,” it added.
The GSS further indicated that the Ahafo (8.3%) and Western (4.5%) regions had the next highest percent 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 Service said that 17.5 percent of children under 5 years were stunted (low height-for-age), 12.5 percent were underweight (low weight-for-age), and 6.0 percent were wasted (low weight-for-height).
“Three in every 10 children under 5 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 5 years who were underweight. 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.
Also, the GSS said one in every two (49.0%) children under 5 years was anaemic, with 21.1 percent being moderately anaemic and 0.8 percent 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 5 years were anaemic,” it added.