According to data from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) Key Indicators Report, two out of every five children between the ages of 12 and 23 months have not received all recommended vaccinations in accordance with the national schedule.
According to a statement from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Northern Region had the highest percentage, with seven out of ten children (70.8%) in the same age group not receiving the recommended vaccinations in accordance with the national schedule.
"The next largest percentages of children not fully vaccinated were seen in the Western (60.9%) and Savannah (58.4%) regions, where six out of ten have not received all recommended vaccinations. The greatest percentage ever recorded—9.0%—of children in the Northern Region between the ages of 12 and 23 months have not gotten any vaccinations; this is over five times higher than the 2.0 percent national average, the report continued.
The GSS also showed that the second greatest percentage of children in this age group who have not had any vaccines is found in the Ahafo (8.3%) and Western (4.5%) areas.
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).
The regions with the greatest incidence of stunting were the North East (29.3%) and the Northern (29.6%), where three out of ten children under five were affected.
Northern (19.9%) and North East (20.4%) likewise had the highest percentages of underweight children under five. The highest frequency of wasting was seen in the Northern Region (7.9%), which was followed by the Ashanti (7.7%), Volta (7.4%), and Oti (7.3%) regions.
Additionally, the GSS reported that 21.1 percent of children under the age of five were moderately anemic, and 0.8 percent were seriously anemic, accounting for one in every two (49.0%) anemic children.
Seven out of ten children under the age of five had anemia, with the Northern (69.4%) and Upper East (69.3%) regions having the highest rates of anemia, the report continued.
