This abstract has been accepted at the 2024 DHIS2 Annual Conference
Digitalization of community mapping of zero-dose and under-immunized children in Mozambique
Although significant progress has been made in childhood vaccine coverage, many children in Mozambique remain under-vaccinated. At the end of 2023, The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) through the National Director of Public Health developed a recovery plan to reach children under 5 years in 74 priority districts. To effectively implement this plan, a mobile platform based on DHIS2 was adopted, which was used in the mapping, micro-planning and recording of information resulting from vaccination processes campaigns. As a result, households with all illegible children were mapped and digitized. Of these children were classified as zero-dose, under-immunized and never-vaccinated. During the mapping, household visits conducted by CHWs allowed for a deeper understanding of who had missed the vaccination. Key impacts such as fewer missed settlements, an increase in vaccinated children, and improved identification of areas to be targeted. The platform proved to be better in terms of information quality to paper data collection instruments, as it was possible to capture the georeferencing of children and through this generate a profile of the geographic dispersion of target groups on the map; the digital platform captured information on all vaccines that the child received during the campaign and helped to guarantee data quality, reducing duplication of efforts since the processing and compilation of data was done automatically. Nearly all children who were classified before the national campaign and followed up after the campaign and outreach were vaccinated. Despite the potential of this platform to close the immunization gap in Mozambique and elsewhere, it has not been widely adopted due to reduced time for users training, poor internet quality, among other constraints. As the developed DHIS2 platform uses novel technology to identify and reach missed communities and zero-dose and under-immunized children, it may be a key tool to address inequality in immunization in low- and middle-income countries.
Primary Author: Braiton Maculuve
Keywords:
EPI, zero-dose, mapping, micro planning, Android app
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