Positions held: Relevant Professional and Academic

Senior Lecturer

Formally Research Fellow, Navrongo Health Research Centre

Education: University and above,

Postdoc, Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark

PhD in Health Sciences (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)

MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa)

BSc in Computer Science and Statistics (University of Ghana, Ghana)

Research interest:

Child health, vaccination, non-specific effects of vaccines, evaluation of health intervention programmes, research based on health and demographic surveillance systems, adult health and ageing, and application of statistical methods in epidemiological and social science research.

Publications

1. Moro, A., Nonterah, E. A., Klipstein-Grobusch, K., Oladokun, S., Welaga, P., Ansah, P. O., … & Downward, G. (2024). Early life ambient air pollution, household fuel use, and under-5 mortality in Ghana. Environment International, 187, 108693.

 

2. Cliff, M., Welaga, P., Mohammed, N., Ansah, P., Heyderman, R. S., Trotter, C., & Kwambana-Adams, B. (2024). Strategies for controlling pneumococcal disease and outbreaks during humanitarian emergencies. Nature Medicine, 1-2.

 

3. Welaga, P., Mutua, M. K., Hanifi, S. M. A., Ansah, P., Aaby, P., & Nielsen, S. (2023). Effect of national immunisation campaigns with oral polio vaccine on all-cause mortality in children in rural northern Ghana: 20 years of demographic surveillance cohort data. Eclinicalmedicine, 66.

 

4. Asante, K.P., Mathanga, D.P., Milligan, P., Akech, S., Oduro, A., Mwapasa, V., Moore, K.A., Kwambai, T.K., Hamel, M.J., Gyan, T., Westercamp, N., Kapito-Tembo, A., Njuguna, P., Ansong, D., Kariuki, S., Mvalo, T., Snell, P., Schellenberg, D., Welaga, P., Otieno, L., … & Sillah, J. S. (2024). Feasibility, safety, and impact of the RTS, S/AS01E malaria vaccine when implemented through national immunisation programmes: evaluation of cluster-randomised introduction of the vaccine in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi. The Lancet, 403(10437), pp.1660-1670.

 

5. Matsubara, C., Dalaba, M. A., Danchaka, L. L., & Welaga, P. (2023). Situation Analysis of a New Effort of Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) for Maternal Health in Upper West Region in Rural Ghana. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(16), 6595.

 

6. Oladokun S, Welaga P, Nonterah EA, Ansah P, Oduro A, Tobias Chirwa T. (2023). Cause specific under-five mortality rates and associated risk factors among children in northern Ghana between 2007 and 2012 using survival analysis techniques. Journal of Africa Population Studies, 36(2); 5286

 

7. Oduro, A.R., Anyorikeya, M., Ansah, P., Oladokun, S., Tei, E.M., Oduro-Ayeh, R., Welaga, P. and Deh, S., 2023. Birth preparedness and complications readiness among women in disadvantaged rural districts of Ghana. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 23(1), p.728.

 

8. Sakeah, E., Bawah, A. A., Asuming, P. O., Debpuur, C., Welaga, P., Awine, T., … & Oduro, A. R. (2023). Impact of community health interventions on maternal and child health indicators in the upper east region of Ghana. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 23(1), 298.

 

9. Aborigo, R. A., Welaga, P., Oduro, A., Shaum, A., Opare, J., Dodoo, A., … & Gidudu, J. F. (2022). Optimising reporting of adverse events following immunisation by healthcare workers in Ghana: a qualitative study in four regions. Plos one, 17(12), e0277197

 

10. Aaby, P., Nielsen, S., Fisker, A. B., Pedersen, L. M., Welaga, P., Hanifi, S. M., … & Benn, C. S. (2022, August). Stopping oral polio vaccine (OPV) after defeating poliomyelitis in low-and middle-income countries: harmful unintended consequences? Review of the nonspecific effects of OPV. In Open Forum Infectious Diseases(Vol. 9, No. 8, p. ofac340). Oxford University Press.

 

11. Dalaba, M. A., Welaga, P., Immurana, M., Ayanore, M., Ane, J., Danchaka, L. L., & Matsubara, C. (2022). Cost of childbirth in Upper West Region of Ghana: a cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 22(1), 613.

 

12. Nonterah, E. A., Welaga, P., Chatio, S. T., Kehoe, S. H., Ofosu, W., Ward, K. A., … & as members of the INPreP study group. (2022). Children born during the hunger season are at a higher risk of severe acute malnutrition: Findings from a Guinea Sahelian ecological zone in Northern Ghana. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 18(2), e13313.

 

13. Oduro, A.R., Francke, J., Ansah, P., Jackson, E.F., Wak, G., Phillips, J.F., Haykin, L.A., Azongo, D., Bawah, A.A., Welaga, P. and Hodgson, A. (2022). Social and demographic correlates of cardiovascular mortality in the Kassena-Nankana districts of Ghana: a verbal post-mortem analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 51(2), pp.591-603.

 

14. Dalaba, M. A., Welaga, P., Dalinjong, P. A., Chatio, S., Immurana, M., Alhassan, R. K., … & Akweongo, P. (2021). Health-seeking behaviour and cost of fever treatment to households in a malaria-endemic setting of northern Ghana: a cross-sectional study. BMJ open, 11(9), e052224.

 

15. Dare, S., Oduro, A.R., Owusu-Agyei, S., Mackay, D.F., Gruer, L., Manyeh, A.K., Nettey, E., Phillips, J.F., Asante, K.P., Welaga, P. and Pell, J.P. (2021). Neonatal mortality rates, characteristics, and risk factors for neonatal deaths in Ghana: analyses of data from two health and demographic surveillance systems. Global health action, 14(1), p.1938871

 

16. Narwortey, D. K., Owusu-Ofori, A., Slotved, H. C., Donkor, E. S., Ansah, P. O., Welaga, P., … & Oduro, A. R. (2021). Nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae among healthy children in Kassena-Nankana districts of Northern Ghana. BMC Infectious Diseases, 21, 1-10.

 

17. Hanifi, S. M. A., Fisker, A. B., Welaga, P., Rieckmann, A., Jensen, A. G., Benn, C. S., & Aaby, P. (2021). Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine is associated with increased female-male mortality. Studies of DTP administered before and after measles vaccine. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 223(11), 1984-1991.

 

18. Debpuur, C., Nonterah, E. A., Chatio, S. T., Adoctor, J. K., Dambayi, E., Beeri, P., … & INPreP Study Group. (2021). Supporting maternal and child nutrition: views from community members in rural Northern Ghana. Public Health Nutrition, 24(12), 3719-3726.

 

19. Kwarteng, A., Akazili, J., Welaga, P., Dalinjong, P. A., Asante, K. P., Sarpong, D., … & Sankoh, O. (2020). The state of enrollment on the National Health Insurance Scheme in rural Ghana after eight years of implementation. International journal for equity in health, 19, 1-14.

 

20. Gidudu, J. F., Shaum, A., Dodoo, A., Bosomprah, S., Bonsu, G., Amponsa-Achiano, K., … & Ampadu, H. H. (2020). Barriers to healthcare workers reporting adverse events following immunization in four regions of Ghana. Vaccine, 38(5), 1009-1014.

 

21. Waiswa, P., Akuze, J., Moyer, C., Kwesiga, D., Arthur, S., Sankoh, O., Welaga, P., Bangha, M., Eminas, J., Muuo, S. and Ziraba, A. (2019). Status of birth and pregnancy outcome capture in Health Demographic Surveillance Sites in 13 countries. International Journal of Public Health, 64, pp.909-920.

 

22. Chatio, S., Welaga, P., Tabong, P. T. N., & Akweongo, P. (2019). Factors influencing performance of community-based health volunteers’ activities in the Kassena-Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana. PloS one, 14(2), e0212166.

 

23. Bawah, A. A., Phillips, J. F., Asuming, P. O., Jackson, E. F., Walega, P., Kanmiki, E. W., … & Oduro, A. (2019). Does the provision of community health services offset the effects of poverty and low maternal educational attainment on childhood mortality? An analysis of the equity effect of the Navrongo experiment in Northern Ghana. SSM-Population Health, 7, 100335.

 

24. Welaga P, Debpuur C, Aaby P, Hodgson A, Azongo DK, Benn CS, Oduro AR. (2018). Is the decline in neonatal mortality in northern Ghana, 1996-2012, associated with the decline in the age of BCG vaccination? An ecological study. BMJ Open, 8(12), e023752

 

25. Agorinya, I. A., Kanmiki, E. W., Nonterah, E. A., Tediosi, F., Akazili, J., Welaga, P., … & Oduro, A. R. (2018). Socio-demographic determinants of low birth weight: Evidence from the Kassena-Nankana districts of the Upper East Region of Ghana. PLoS one, 13(11), e0206207.

 

26. Sakeah, E., Debpuur, C., Oduro, A. R., Welaga, P., Aborigo, R., Sakeah, J. K., & Moyer, C. A. (2018). Prevalence and factors associated with female genital mutilation among women of reproductive age in the Bawku municipality and Pusiga District of northern Ghana. BMC women’s health, 18, 1-10.

 

27. Thysen, S. M., Fisker, A. B., working group on Vaccines, I. N. D. E. P. T. H., & Survival, C. (2018). Selecting the right indicators to ensure optimised implementation of BCG vaccination policy. Vaccine, 36(24), 3406-3407.

 

28. Dalaba, M. A., Welaga, P., Oduro, A., Danchaka, L. L., & Matsubara, C. (2018). Cost of malaria treatment and health seeking behaviour of children under-five years in the Upper West Region of Ghana. PLoS One, 13(4), e0195533.

 

29. Welaga, P., Hodgson, A., Debpuur, C., Aaby, P., Binka, F., Azongo, D., & Oduro, A. (2018). Measles vaccination supports millennium development goal 4: increasing coverage and increasing child survival in Northern Ghana, 1996–2012. Frontiers in Public Health, 6, 28.

 

30. Dalinjong, P. A., Welaga, P., Akazili, J., Kwarteng, A., Bangha, M., Oduro, A., … & Goudge, J. (2017). The association between health insurance status and utilization of health services in rural Northern Ghana: evidence from the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 36, 1-10.

 

31. Dalaba, M. A., Welaga, P., & Matsubara, C. (2017). Cost of delivering health care services at primary health facilities in Ghana. BMC health services research, 17, 1-11.

 

32. Welaga P, Oduro A, Debpuur C, Aaby P, Ravn H, Andersen A, Binka F, Hodgson A. Fewer out-of-sequence vaccinations and reduction of child mortality in Northern Ghana. 2017; 35(18):2496-2503.

 

33. Bawah, A., Houle, B., Alam, N., Razzaque, A., Streatfield, P. K., Debpuur, C., Welaga, P … & Clark, S. J. (2016). The evolving demographic and health transition in four low-and middle-income countries: evidence from four sites in the INDEPTH network of longitudinal health and demographic surveillance systems. PloS one, 11(6), e0157281.

 

34. Dalinjong, P. A., Welaga, P., Azongo, D. K., Chatio, S., Anaseba, D., Kondayire, F., … & Oduro, A. R. (2015). A retrospective analysis of the association between tobacco smoking and deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the Kassena-Nankana districts of Northern Ghana. Tobacco Induced Diseases, 13, 1-9.

 

35. Ameh, S., Welaga, P., Kabiru, C. W., Ndifon, W., Ikpeme, B., Nsan, E., & Oyo-Ita, A. (2015). Factors associated with appropriate home management of uncomplicated malaria in children in Kassena-Nankana district of Ghana and implications for community case management of childhood illness: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 15, 1-10.

 

36. Achana, F. S., Bawah, A. A., Jackson, E. F., Welaga, P., Awine, T., Asuo-Mante, E., … & Phillips, J. F. (2015). Spatial and socio-demographic determinants of contraceptive use in the Upper East region of Ghana. Reproductive health, 12, 1-10.
37. Akazili, J., Welaga, P., Bawah, A., Achana, F. S., Oduro, A., Awoonor-Williams, J. K., … & Phillips, J. F. (2014). Is Ghana’s pro-poor health insurance scheme really for the poor? Evidence from Northern Ghana. BMC health services research, 14, 1-9.

 

38. Bawah, A., Welaga, P., Azongo, D. K., Wak, G., Phillips, J. F., & Oduro, A. (2014). Road traffic fatalities-a neglected epidemic in rural northern Ghana: evidence from the Navrongo demographic surveillance system. Injury epidemiology, 1, 1-9.

 

39. Streatfield, P. K., Khan, W. A., Bhuiya, A., Hanifi, S. M., Alam, N., Diboulo, E., … & Byass, P. (2014). Malaria mortality in Africa and Asia: evidence from INDEPTH health and demographic surveillance system sites. Global health action, 7(1), 25369.

 

40. Streatfield, P. K., Khan, W. A., Bhuiya, A., Hanifi, S. M., Alam, N., Ouattara, M., … & Byass, P. (2014). Cause-specific childhood mortality in Africa and Asia: evidence from INDEPTH health and demographic surveillance system sites. Global health action, 7(1), 25363.

 

41. Sankoh, O., Welaga, P., Debpuur, C., Zandoh, C., Gyaase, S., Poma, M. A., … & Aaby, P. (2014). The non-specific effects of vaccines and other childhood interventions: the contribution of INDEPTH Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems. International journal of epidemiology, 43(3), 645-653.

 

42. Welaga, P., Moyer, C. A., Aborigo, R., Adongo, P., Williams, J., Hodgson, A., … & Engmann, C. (2013). Why are babies dying in the first month after birth? A 7-year study of neonatal mortality in northern Ghana. PloS one, 8(3), e58924.

 

43. Welaga, P., Nielsen, J., Adjuik, M., Debpuur, C., Ross, D. A., Ravn, H., … & Aaby, P. (2012). Non‐specific effects of diphtheria‐tetanus‐pertussis and measles vaccinations? An analysis of surveillance data from Navrongo, Ghana. Tropical medicine & international health, 17(12), 1492-1505.

 

44. Aborah, S., Akweongo, P., Adjuik, M., Atinga, R. A., Welaga, P., & Adongo, P. B. (2013). The use of non-prescribed anti-malarial drugs for the treatment of malaria in the Bolgatanga municipality, northern Ghana. Malaria journal, 12, 1-6.

 

45. Oduro, A.R., Wak, G., Azongo, D., Debpuur, C., Wontuo, P., Kondayire, F., Welaga, P., Bawah, A., Nazzar, A., Williams, J. and Hodgson, A. (2012). Profile of the Navrongo health and demographic surveillance system. International journal of epidemiology, 41(4), pp.968-976.

 

46. Engmann, C., Walega, P., Aborigo, R. A., Adongo, P., Moyer, C. A., Lavasani, L., … & Hodgson, A. (2012). Stillbirths and early neonatal mortality in rural Northern Ghana. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 17(3), 272-282.

 

47. Debpuur, C., Welaga, P., Wak, G., & Hodgson, A. (2010). Self-reported health and functional limitations among older people in the Kassena-Nankana District, Ghana. Global health action, 3(1), 2151.

 

48. Shann, F., Nohynek, H., Scott, J. A., Hesseling, A., & Flanagan, K. L. (2010). Randomized trials to study the nonspecific effects of vaccines in children in low-income countries. The Pediatric infectious disease journal, 29(5), 457-461.

 

49. Welaga,, Hosegood, V., Weiner, R., Hill, C., Herbst, K., & Newell, M. L. (2009). Coming home to die? The association between migration and mortality in rural South Africa. BMC Public Health, 9, 1-8.

 

50. Fine, P. E., Williams, T. N., Aaby, P., Källander, K., Moulton, L. H., Flanagan, K. L., … & Working Group on Non‐specific Effects of Vaccines. (2009). Epidemiological studies of the ‘non‐specific effects’ of vaccines: I–data collection in observational studies. Tropical medicine & international health, 14(9), 969-976.

 

51. Farrington, C. P., Firth, M. J., Moulton, L. H., Ravn, H., Andersen, P. K., & Evans, S. (2009). Epidemiological studies of the non-specific effects of vaccines: II–methodological issues in the design and analysis of cohort studies. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 14(9).