GhanaFact, a project of FactSpace West Africa, has been formally admitted into the World Health Organisation’s Vaccine Safety Net (VSN).
GhanaFact.com, known for its strong public health focus, was formally admitted in a letter dated May 13, 2025, signed by Mr Hiiti Sillo, WHO Unit Head for Regulation and Safety.
“Upon the formal assessment of your website (www.ghanafact.com), we are pleased to welcome your website as a member of the Vaccine Safety Net,” the letter read in part.
GhanaFact joins 114 other websites across 48 countries, producing content in 48 languages, including Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the national regulatory body responsible for the regulation of food, drugs, food supplements, herbal and homeopathic medicines, veterinary medicines, cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and tobacco products, blood and blood products as well as the conduct of clinical trials.
The VSN is an initiative that pools together websites globally to provide credible and accurate information about vaccines and to combat vaccine hesitancy.
“In recent years, a number of websites providing unbalanced, misleading and alarming vaccine safety information have been established, which can lead to undue fears, particularly among parents and patients,” the WHO highlights in a statement on its website.
Acknowledging the emerging targeted online health disinformation threat and urged by governments, key non-governmental organisations, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WHO initiated the Vaccine Safety Net Project (VSN) in 2003.
The certified members of the Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) will provide science-based information on vaccine safety in multiple languages.
Since 2019, FactSpace West Africa, through GhanaFact and other projects across West Africa, has worked to counter health mis/disinformation by producing fact-checks and factsheets aimed at tackling vaccine mis/disinformation and hesitancy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.