The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) of Ghana participated in a successful stakeholder dissemination meeting on the “Sustainable Access and Delivery of New Vaccines in Ghana (SAVINGConsortium).” The meeting, hosted by the University of Health and Allied Sciences, took place on August 28th, 2024, at the MJ Grand Hotel in Accra. The event brought together key stakeholders and institutions involved in the public health sector to discuss the findings and interventions from Phase One of the project’s implementation research undertaken by the SAVING Consortium, which was funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)
The SAVING Consortium, led by the University of Health and Allied Sciences, has thus developed a proposal to build capacity of multiple stakeholders (Ghana Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ministry of Health (MoH)) to identify and address implementation challenges for the efficient and effective delivery and uptake of new health intervention.
The primary objective of the engagement was to discuss the findings from Phase One of the SAVING Consortium’s ongoing Implementation Research (IR) studiesand identify the implementation bottlenecks that affect the efficient and effective delivery and uptake of new medical interventions in Ghana. Each stakeholder shared updates on the work packages (WPs) assigned highlighting the critical roles and findings. WP1, led by the consortium management team, spoke on the implementation through effective coordination and leadership. WP2, led by Prof. Evelyn Ansah and supported by Prof. Margaret Gyapong and the Research and Development Division of the Ghana Health Service, focused on the level of stakeholder engagement needed to support the health interventions at the community level. WP3, spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and other strategic partners, spoke on the mechanisms for integrating new medical technologies into national guidelines.
The meeting provided a platform for in-depth dialogue on the policy implications of the findings from the various work packages, with participants exploring strategies to overcome the challenges highlighted by the research. The discussions also focused on ensuring that the recommended interventions are effectively integrated into the broader health delivery system to enhance access and delivery of health technology across the country.
The FDA, as the regulatory authority responsible for ensuring the safety, efficacy, and quality of its regulated products, used the opportunity to discuss some of its findings from stakeholders for improvement of the MedSafety App, an app developed for the reporting of Adverse reactions reiterated its commitment to working closely with all stakeholders to achieve the goals of the SAVING Consortium. The Authority also emphasized the importance of continued research and data collection to inform evidence-based policy decisions.
The meeting concluded with a call to action for all stakeholders to collaborate in implementing the recommendations from Phase I study on the implementation researchand to continue working towards sustainable solutions for vaccine delivery in Ghana. The consortium lead, Prof. Margaret Gyapong expressed her appreciation to all stakeholders and the work packages for their contributions and looked forward to Phase II of the study which will build on the successes and lessons learned from the initial phase.
