The acceptance or otherwise of the COVID-19 vaccine by health care workers can influence the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among the general population as they are a reliable source of health information. In this study, we sought to determine the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines among health care workers in Ghana. Using a cross-sectional design, we collected data from 234 health care workers through a self-administered online survey from 16 January to 15 February 2021. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses using binary logistic regression were performed using STATA version 15. The results showed that 39.3% of health care workers had the intention of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Factors such as sex, category of health care workers, relative being diagnosed with COVID-19, and trust in the accuracy of the measures taken by the government in the fight against COVID-19 proved to be significant predictors of the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine. Concerns about the safety of vaccines and the adverse side effects of the vaccine were identified as the main reasons why health care workers would decline uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ghana. The self-reported low intention of health care workers to accept the COVID-19 vaccine in Ghana requires the urgent call of the Government of Ghana and other stakeholders to critically address health care workers' concerns about the safety and adverse side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, as this would increase vaccine uptake. Interventions must also take into consideration sex and the category of health care workers to achieve the desired results. Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccines, Vaccine acceptance, Health care workers, Ghana

Because health care workers are a reliable source of health information, their acceptance or rejection of COVID-19 vaccines can influence the general population's uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. In this study, we sought to determine the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines among health care workers in Ghana. Using a cross-sectional design, we collected data from 234 health care workers through a self-administered online survey from 16 January to 15 February 2021. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed using STATA version 15. The findings revealed that 39.3% (n = 92) of health care workers intended to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. Factors such as sex (AOR = 0.451; CI 95% 0.240–0.845; p = 0.013 ), category of health care workers (AOR = 2.851; 95 CI%: 1.097–7.405; p = 0.031 ), relative being diagnosed with COVID-19 (AOR = 0.369; CI 95% 0.145–0.941; p = 0.037 ), and trust in the accuracy of the measures taken by the government in the fight against COVID-19 (AOR = 2.768; CI 95%: 1.365–5.616; p = 0.005 ) proved to be significant predictors of the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine. Concerns about the safety of vaccines (n = 93, 65.5%) and the adverse side effects of the vaccines (n = 23, 14.8%) were identified as the main reasons why health care workers would decline uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana. The self-reported low intention of health care workers in Ghana to accept COVID-19 vaccines necessitates an urgent call from the Government of Ghana and other stakeholders to address health care workers' concerns about the safety and adverse side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, as this would increase vaccine uptake. Interventions must also take into consideration sex and the category of health care workers to achieve the desired results.

BackgroundGhana’s current Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 319 per 100,000 live births makes achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal of 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births or less by 2030 appear to be illusory. Skilled assistance during childbirth is a critical strategy to reducing maternal mortality, yet the proportion of deliveries taking place within health facilities where such assistance is provided is very low in Ghana, with huge disparity between urban and rural women. To address the gap in skilled attendance in rural Upper East Region, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in 2005 piloted a program that involved training of Community Health Officers (CHOs) as midwives. This study explored factors associated with skilled delivery services utilization in a predominantly rural district in Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional study, data was collected from a sample of 400 women between the ages of 15 and 49 years who had given birth a year prior to the study. We used frequencies and percentages for descriptive analysis and chi-square (χ 2) test for relationship between independents factors and utilization of skilled delivery services.ResultsOf the 400 women included in the analysis, 93.3% of them delivered in a health facility. Almost all of the mothers (97.3%) attended or received antenatal care at their last pregnancy with 75.0% of them having four or more ANC visits. The proportion of women who received ANC and utilized skilled delivery services was high (91.5%). Mother’s educational attainment, ANC attendance, frequency of ANC visits, satisfaction with ANC services and possession of valid NHIS card significantly associated with utilisation of skilled delivery services.ConclusionFor a predominantly rural district, the percentage of women who deliver within health facilities where skilled assistance is available is very encouraging and a significant stride towards reducing Ghana’s overall MMR. Having four or more ANC visits and improving on the quality of care provided has a great potential of improving uptake of skilled delivery services.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1344-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Although COVID-19 vaccines are available, evidence suggests that several factors hinder or facilitate their use. Several studies have found gender differences in COVID-19 vaccine uptake, with women less likely to vaccinate than men in many countries, including Ghana. These studies, however, have primarily been quantitative. This study used a qualitative approach to examine the facilitators and barriers to vaccine uptake among women in Ghana. Using a cross-sectional descriptive qualitative research design, 30 women in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions of Ghana were conveniently sampled and interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Fifteen (15) interviews were conducted in each region. The data were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using QSR NVivo version 10 software. Among the key factors that facilitate COVID-19 vaccination are the desire to protect oneself and family against COVID-19, education about COVID-19 vaccines, seeing others receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and vaccine being cost-free. On the other hand, long queues at the vaccination centres, fear of side effects, misconceptions about the vaccines, and shortage of vaccines were the main barriers against COVID-19 vaccination. The study results show that individual, institutional, and vaccine-related factors facilitate or hinder COVID-19 vaccination among women. Addressing these factors need continuous comprehensive health education, and ensuring vaccine availability at vaccination sites will improve women’s uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Child mortality continues to be a major public health problem in Ghana, especially in northern Ghana where child survival rates are among the lowest. Though strategies are in place to address it, progress made is unsatisfactory and the Sustainable Development Goal 3 risks being missed. This makes the reexamination of the risk factors for child mortality crucial as results will aid in the modification of existing strategies aimed at addressing the problem. This study was a population-based case control study utilizing data (2007–2011) from the Demographic Surveillance System database of the Navrongo Health Research Center. Cases and controls were selected from the database and analysed unmatched. Cases were children who died before age five and controls were live children within the same year group. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed using STATA (v13). The results revealed the main causes of death in the area to include malaria, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, and malnutrition. Mother's age at birth, mother's educational level, and mother's household socioeconomic status were significantly related to child mortality. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the known risk factors for child mortality in the Kassena-Nankana district have not changed much over the years. Current child survival strategies therefore need to be evaluated and modified where necessary to yield desired results.