GSS Report: Two out of five children not fully vaccinated

Two in every five (43.6%) children aged 12 to 23 months have not been fully vaccinated in adherence with the national schedule, according to the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) Key Indicators Report.

In the Northern Region, which recorded the highest rate, seven in every 10 children (70.8%) in this age range have not been fully vaccinated according to the national schedule.

In a Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) statement, 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.

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, 17.5 percent of children under 5 years were stunted (low height-forage), 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.

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.

One in every ten (12.5%) women who delivered in the two years preceding the survey did not attend the minimum four antenatal care visits, highest in the Oti (24.3%) and Savannah (20.5%) regions.

One in every five women (21.5%) who delivered in the two years preceding the survey did not receive a postnatal check within the first two days of birth as recommended.

The Northern (27.3%) and Oti (23.3%) regions had the highest percentage of women that did not receive a postnatal check and were the only regions above 20.0 percent.

The theme for the 2023 Children’s Day is “For every child, every right”.

About the Ghana Statistical Service

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) provides comprehensive, reliable, quality, relevant, accurate and timely statistical information to guide national development as stipulated in Section 3 of the Statistical Service Act, 2019 (Act 1003).

The organisation’s vision is to be a trusted provider of official statistics for good governance and its mission being the efficient collection, production, management, and dissemination of quality official statistics based on international standards, using competent and motivated staff for evidence-based decision-making, in support of national development.

The Statistical Service produces monthly and quarterly data on important economic indicators such as inflation, Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index, and Gross Domestic Product. GSS also regularly generates periodic population, housing, demographic and economic data at the locality, district, and national levels from routine surveys and censuses. The statistics generated by GSS can be utilised by a wide cross-section of users including public sector, businesses, academia, civil society organisations and development partners.