A Pregnancy Registry will be piloted in Ghana in early 2026 to track the safety of vaccines for expectant mothers and their unborn children.
The program will monitor adverse occurrences related to immunizations under the Maternal Immunization Safety Monitoring Programme.
It will be carried out by the Dodowa and Kintampo Health Research Centers, with funding provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and overseen by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
Women in health facilities in the two study centers’ catchment areas who are pregnant will be vaccinated and have their safety during and after pregnancy monitored.
The project intends to create an efficient method for assessing vaccination safety in pregnant women, according to Dr. Edwin Nkansah, Director of Vaccines, Vigilance, and Clinical Trials at the FDA, who was speaking at a stakeholder engagement in Accra.
“One of the things this project will do will be to monitor how pregnant women react at every stage of their pregnancy when they receive a vaccine,” he said.
According to Dr. Nkansah, the registry would give the FDA thorough information on how vaccines affect expectant mothers and their unborn children, guaranteeing appropriate monitoring of prescription drugs taken during pregnancy.
150 women from the project regions have been chosen for the initial monitoring of maternal health records from the beginning of pregnancy till delivery, according to Dr. Frank Atuguba, Director of the Dodowa Health Research Center.
After vaccination, he clarified, the procedure will continue.
“Generally, vaccines are the most cost-effective way of preventing diseases, but there are some infections that can be effectively tackled by vaccinating a pregnant woman with the intention of protecting the unborn child,” Dr. Atuguba said.
The research will also involve vaccination studies for Group B streptococcal pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus to protect pregnant women and their unborn children in the early stages of life, he noted.
According to Madam Adeli Ashie, Chief Regulatory Officer of the FDA Safety and Monitoring Department, pregnant women are more likely to get fatal illnesses.
The FDA’s duty to monitor vaccine safety for pregnant women, she noted, was in line with the Pregnancy Registry.
Source: newsthemegh.com