It is also to ensure strict application of disease prevention management techniques at the farms and trade levels to minimise the risk of disease introduction and its related economic impact.

The Harmonized National Poultry Vaccination Protocol (HNPVP) was developed under the Ghana Poultry Project (GPP) and is being financed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

At a sensitization forum in Kumasi on the new vaccination regime for key players in the poultry sector, Dr Peter Boakye-Yiadom, Senior Lecturer, Avian Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said effective vaccination protected millions of poultry world-wide from contagious and deadly diseases.

He urged participants to embrace the new vaccination protocol, saying it would help reduce production cost and improve efficiency.

Dr Boakye-Yiadom advised poultry farmers to be wary of the source of vaccines and their potency in order not to endanger their birds, stressing the need to engage the services of experts in the industry.

Dr Amakye Anim, a Veterinary Virologist, said the Gumboro and Newcastle diseases were the main challenge of the Ghanaian poultry farmer and counselled them to strictly adhere to the new protocol.

He underscored the need for farmers to decrease exposure of the birds through comprehensive biosecurity programme, adding that no amount of vaccination would protect the birds without good biosecurity and proper hygienic conditions.

Ms Carianne de Boer, the Chief of Party of the GPP, said the project sought to increase the competitiveness of domestic production and processing of poultry and eggs in Ghana.

The GPP, she said, worked with stakeholders in the poultry industry value chain to increase market share, improve profitability and expand national and regional trade of poultry products, inputs and services.

She disclosed that the GPP had, among other achievements, reached out to 4,618 direct beneficiaries, trained 17 financial institutions in agriculture, trained 193 community animal health workers and facilitated US$ 1,860,294 loans to poultry value chain actors, mainly farmers.