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Snapshots of Success: Ghana’s Integrated Child Health Campaign

ghanian mother and child

Picture: Courtesy of UNICEF

In Ghana some 80,000 children under the age of five die every year most of them from preventable or treatable diseases. Malaria leads the way as the biggest single cause of childhood deaths in Ghana, accounting for about 25 per cent of all deaths among children under the age of five. Sleeping under a bed net can reduce child deaths by as much as 20%.

The Campaign

In an unprecedented attempt to save the lives of 20,000 infants and children, Ghana embarked on its biggest-to-date nationwide integrated child health campaign in November 2006. Millions of children were immunized against measles and polio and given Vitamin A supplements and in the three poorest northern regions of the country children were also de-wormed.

For the first time in Ghana’s history of national immunization 2.1 million long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets were distributed free of charge for all children under the age of two made possible by a £6 million DFID grant. The campaign was led by Ghana’s Ministry of Health as part of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child deaths in Ghana.

Nets By Any Means

The delivery of 2.1 million bed nets nationwide was a massive logistical operation, the largest of its kind in Ghana to date. Bed nets were transported to immunization points located everywhere from urban and rural areas to the most remote and hardest-to-reach communities, transported by foot, bicycle, airlift and across waters by canoe.

2006 distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN)(123 kb)

The Campaign in Numbers

The whole process from ordering of the bed nets to final destination delivery (immunization points) took place within less than five months.

Over 28,000 volunteers were trained in the run-up to the campaign and supported health workers to administer the interventions.

9,505 immunization posts were established across the country.

1.5 million leaflets alerting parents to the campaign were distributed to all primary schools.

A household survey carried out two weeks after the campaign revealed that 96.4 per cent of all children under age two received bed nets, and 72 per cent of children under two slept under a net the previous night.

The Power of Celebrity

serena williams

Picture: Courtesy of UNICEF

One of Ghana’s leading musical artistes, popularly known as “Batman” produced a catchy 30-second radio jingle about the campaign and the need for malaria prevention through the use of bed nets. On the last day of the campaign, UNICEF enlisted tennis superstar Serena Williams to make a campaign visit to a deprived area in Accra. Serena handed out bed nets, administered vitamin A and polio, and recorded a public service announcement on the importance of sleeping under bed nets.

Radio Led the Way

In almost all of Ghana’s ten regions, people learned about the campaign and were mobilized to come out in their numbers by radio broadcasts, followed by gong-gong beating and health workers. Newspapers and other media augmented the massive communication campaign as sources of information and social mobilization. The week before the campaign, UNICEF supported a two-day training workshop on malaria prevention and campaign outreach for radio outlets from across Ghana.

Building Partnerships for Children

child being immunized

Picture: Courtesy of UNICEF

Partnerships were built to support a much more efficient and acceptable method for delivery of cost-effective interventions rather than the “single intervention” approach of previous National Immunization Days. The Government of Ghana showed tremendous commitment and leadership for example the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service and the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, were at the forefront of the campaign, personally visiting communities and speaking out on the importance of the campaign interventions.

Partners included the Government of Japan, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Ghana Red Cross Society, World Bank, Global Measles Initiative, Rotary International, USAID, major development partners of the health sector and the private sector.

Key Facts

Malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malnutrition and measles remain the five leading killer diseases of children in Ghana according to UNICEF.

The campaign will kick-start the High Impact Rapid Delivery (HIRD) approach to achieving Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child mortality which combines disease prevention interventions such as nutrition and immunisation programmes together with the integrated management of childhood illnesses.

In 2008 a Demographic and Health Survey will determine impact and coverage of national ITN coverage and will compare baseline data from UNICEF's 2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.

The Global Measles Initiative, launched in 2001, has the aim of reducing measles deaths globally by 90 percent by 2010. During its first five years (2001-2005), the Initiative was the main international supporter of mass measles immunization campaigns that led to the vaccination of more than 217 million children, predominantly in Africa.

Last updated: 28 February 2007