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LDS Charities Helps Ghanaian Children Receive Immunization 

In an effort to eradicate measles and rubella in Ghana, national and global organizations joined forces with LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the first national campaign to immunize children against the two highly contagious diseases.

This global partnership, which includes the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Services, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Gavi Alliance and LDS Charities, is dedicated to ensuring that no child dies from measles or is born with congenital rubella syndrome. The focus of the immunization campaign is on children between the ages of nine months to 14 years.

“Ghana will have another success story to share with the rest of the world,” said Dr. Albert Tia Sugri, deputy minister of health in Ghana. He said the goal is to establish immunization programs with wide coverage and effective campaigns.

Thousands of Ghanaian Church members have helped raise awareness and encourage child immunizations by door-to-door canvassing and manning vaccination centers throughout the country. Assigned specialists from each stake in Ghana (a stake is a group of congregations, similar to diocese) were also trained to direct efforts in advertising the immunization program in different communities.  

“Most volunteers in Ghana, targeted schools, churches and public gathering places within their communities,” said Martin Obeng, LDS Charities national welfare coordinator. Obeng shared an example of how a predominant Muslim community received information about the vaccination campaign.

LDS Charities also printed posters and flyers, and provided 1 million SMS text messages about the program to be sent out to Ghanaians.  

Sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS Charities is an application of the admonition of Jesus Christ to help others in need. It organizes and implements relief and development projects in 179 countries around the world. Assistance is rendered without regard to race, religious affiliation, or nationality and is based on the core principles of personal responsibility, community support, self-reliance, and sustainability.

More than one million man-days of labor are contributed yearly by volunteers in support of these projects, which are funded by donations from Church members and others. The Church absorbs its own overhead costs.

Largely run with volunteer labor, LDS Charities operates both independently and in cooperation with other charitable organizations and governments.

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