In a statement released on Tuesday, Dr Sodzi Sodzi‑Tettey, Chief Executive Officer of the National Vaccine Institute (NVI), defended the Institute’s 2025 expenditure of GH¢13 million on training, workshops and conferences. The defence comes after Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee raised concerns following the Auditor‑General’s report that the Institute’s financial performance had slipped from a GH¢36 million profit to a GH¢21 million loss during the same year.
Dr Sodzi‑Tettey said the money was directed toward capacity‑building for vaccine researchers, local manufacturers, regulators and community engagement, as well as the recruitment of international experts to support specialised activities. “The point is that if you look at the mandate of the National Vaccine Institute and the way that mandate is executed and the work that we do to support the ecosystem, almost everything can be categorised under those headlines, which is why it makes it a huge budget item,” he explained.
The CEO highlighted that the Institute’s work involves developing expertise across the vaccine ecosystem, including researchers at universities who had not previously worked extensively in vaccine development. He added that local manufacturers and regulators also require training to build the capabilities needed for vaccine development and production in Ghana.
Community engagement events were also part of the spend, aimed at assessing public understanding and willingness to accept locally manufactured vaccines. “It is a matter of how the accounting groups categorize these things,” Dr Sodzi‑Tettey said, noting that the classification of these activities under training, workshops and conferences does not fully reflect the range of work being undertaken.
He acknowledged that vaccine manufacturing remains a weak area in Ghana’s health sector and requires substantial investment in specialised skills and infrastructure. He cited the production of snake venom antiserum as an example, explaining that the Institute had to bring in experts from India to conduct tests required for animal studies associated with the manufacturing process. “Experts have to be brought in from outside of the country to support us,” he said.
Dr Sodzi‑Tettey maintained that the activities were capital‑intensive because the necessary expertise and technical capacity were not yet sufficiently developed locally. “That’s where a lot of the budget is going into,” he added.
The concerns over the Institute’s expenditure come amid broader efforts to build Ghana’s capacity to develop and manufacture vaccines locally, reducing dependence on external suppliers and strengthening preparedness for future public health emergencies.
