In a bid to shore up vaccination coverage and give eligible children second chance to be fully vaccinated, World Health Organization (WHO) is working with Ondo State to implement targeted interventions with the aim of reducing missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV).
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| Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Akeredolu |
‘I was given this coupon after I delivered my baby in a private facility, my baby has now received vaccines preventing tuberculosis, hepatitis B and polio”, says Mrs. Elizabeth Adeniran
The mother of two had previously missed the opportunity to get her eligible children vaccinated even though she had regularly visited the health facility in her locality for treatment of minor ailment, always with her children.
Mrs. Adeniran is a beneficiary of the MOV reduction strategy which is based on a system through which any child/person eligible for vaccination who comes to a health facility/mobile health service (for whatever reason) receives the needed vaccines during their visit.
Presently, the package of interventions to reduce MOV in Ondo include provision and training on the use of job-aids, such as an immunization wheel, posters, immunization schedule, and referral coupons for screening of vaccination cards and referral of eligible children for vaccination which are being piloted in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) (Akure South, Odigbo, and Owo) in Ondo State. Officers from the State Government, and District health teams have been trained as facilitators to cascade training at the health facility level.
Other strategies employed by Ondo State to close the coverage gap include the transmission of media channels such as bulk SMSs, Radio and TV jingles, video recordings aimed at sensitizing mothers to retain vaccination records. Monthly stakeholder meetings comprising all state and LGA actors are also held to provide technical support and brainstorm on strategies to improve the intervention.
The MOV became necessary because in Ondo, one of the six states in South West Nigeria, routine immunization coverage over the past two years had stagnated. Based on the trends from the Districts Health Information System (DHIS-2) platform, NICS, Multiple Indicator Coverage Survey (MICS) and Lots Quality Assurance Sampling Survey (LQAS) immunization coverage is below the national and global acceptable level of ≥ 90%.
Check Relief Web for more on the preliminary results and targeted interventions.
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