Champions of the #ENDPolio Campaign
Heroes and Heroines going the extra mile to end polio in Ghana
"I take my job very seriously.
It is a critical point in the supply chain in ensuring that children receive the vaccines they need. Every day I come to work, my priority is to ensure that there is adequate power for the cold rooms to avoid situations of vaccines going bad or being wasted. There are some days that the power goes out for a long time. When this happens, I use my personal funds to ensure that the stand-by generators are up and running."
Douglas Kwesi Acheampong
Cold Room Manager
"I love what I do, even though every day is challenge. On average, I take care of 200 to 300 mothers each day. Some days, there’s no space for all of them to sit at the health centre and it can be very difficult to maintain social distancing.
I oversee various interventions in the hospital – family planning, nutrition and information dissemination – however, for me the most critical point is disease control. Mothers need to be aware of the dangers of leaving their children unprotected from diseases like polio. It does not make any sense for a child to fall sick or die from a disease that can be prevented. Therefore, I always encourage them to come for routine visits and bring along other women in their communities so that more children receive the vaccines they need."
Salamatu Yakubu
Public Health Nurse
9-year-old Christabel Owusu-Ampofo lives in Sokoban village near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. She approached a vaccination and monitoring team in the market while they were ensuring that no children had been missed. She reported that there were a number of children nearby who had not been vaccinated.
She confidently led the team through the market, across make-shift bridges and open drains to a house where the team discovered five children who had not been immunized against the polio virus.
Hats off to this young champion!
Christabel Owusu Ampofu
"Even though I enjoy farming, I do not want to see our children suffer from illnesses that might affect their quality of life in the future. I became actively involved in volunteering for health work in 1995 during the outbreak of Guinea worm and malaria.
As a yam farmer, all I can do to help is to volunteer my time to assist health professionals in this community. The locals are familiar with us, so they listen when we encourage them to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases. I enjoy volunteering. In 2016, the Health Director awarded me with a bicycle for my commitment and contribution."
Jonathan Kwaah
Yam Farmer & Volunteer
