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We’re excited to bring you Linked updates from two recent learning engagements, a new practitioner perspective with Honduras, and the latest evidence from the global immunisation community to strengthen your immunisation programs.
In July, Linked held two in-person learning engagements. Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Honduras, with experience sharing from Brazil – met to discuss ongoing challenges and their experiences implementing approaches to address persistent backsliding, and to share good practices and lessons learned for restoring coverage. Bhutan, Guyana, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam met to share experiences and discuss common challenges, as well as potential approaches and strategies to address challenges related to the design, implementation, and use of a national electronic immunisation register.
During our Persistent Backsliding workshop, we sat down with the delegation from Honduras for a Practitioner Perspective to learn more about the challenges and strategies they’ve implemented to help generate demand and restore vaccine coverage in their country.
Finally, the global immunisation community published relevant literature, briefs, and costing tools to aid in decision-making for new vaccine introduction, understanding marketing intelligence for vaccine procurement, addressing gender barriers to vaccine uptake, countering vaccine misinformation, and more.
Below are some highlights:
- Global childhood immunization levels stalled in 2023, leaving many without life-saving protection
- Vaccine Cost Calculators: Resources to inform immunisation decision-making
- Improving HPV vaccination uptake among adolescents in low resource settings: sociocultural and socioeconomic barriers and facilitators
- A Scoping Review to Map Gender Barriers to Immunization Coverage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
- Market intelligence for vaccine procurement – General principles
We would also like to congratulate Bhutan and Timor-Leste for achieving their target of measles and rubella elimination!
Warm regards,
Elizabeth Ohadi, Program Director, Linked Immunisation Action Network
Network Updates
Linked Workshop on Persistent Backsliding: Experiences implementing approaches to restore coverage and strengthen immunisation programming for the future
Despite progress in the aftermath of the pandemic in restoring immunisation coverage, some Middle-Income Countries (MICs) still lag in terms of performance. Considering DTP3 coverage as a backsliding indicator, several countries in various regions have been slow to catch up to pre-Covid rates, while others continue to fall behind. Challenges identified by countries contributing to persistent backsliding include zero-dose and under vaccinated children, vaccine hesitancy, service delivery challenges, and limited health worker knowledge about guidelines on delayed vaccination.
Linked held an in-person workshop to bring together government and partner stakeholders from countries experiencing persistent backsliding – Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Honduras, with experience sharing from Brazil – to discuss ongoing challenges and their experiences implementing approaches to address backsliding, such as root cause analysis and microplanning and to share good practices and lessons learned.
Explore country experiences implementing approaches to address immunisation backsliding in the workshop materials here.
Linked Workshop on Designing and managing electronic immunisation registers to improve immunisation outcomes
Falling IT costs and improved internet access, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic’s acute demonstration of the benefits of electronic immunisation registers (EIRs), have increased interest in improving EIRs in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. However, many middle-income countries (MICs) continue to experience challenges in the design and implementation of EIRs, including developing a functional technical and governance structure, integrating multiple reporting sites and private sector vaccine providers, ensuring data quality, and connecting data systems.
Linked held an in-person workshop with country immunisation stakeholders who are actively engaged in the establishment and implementation of EIRs – Bhutan, Guyana, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – to share experiences and discuss common challenges, as well as potential approaches and strategies to address these challenges, related to the design, implementation, and use of a national EIR.
Learning about country experiences designing, implementing, and managing national electronic immunisation registers in the workshop materials here.
Linked Practitioner Perspective: Persistent backsliding: Honduras’ experience implementing approaches to restore vaccine coverage
During our Persistent Backsliding workshop, we sat down with the delegation from Honduras to learn more about the challenges and strategies they’ve implemented to help generate demand and restore vaccine coverage in their country. During the interview, the participants – Giselle Paredes, Head of Expanded Immunisation Program, Claudia Sikaffy, Director of External Affairs, Ministry of Health, and Jessica Polanco, Monitoring Technician, Expanded Immunisation Program – discuss the importance of communication campaigns, educating communities with the help of a vaccination mascot, and learning from Azerbaijan’s experience. We encourage you to watch the Practitioner Perspective interview, available in the original language of Spanish with English subtitles, on our website here.
Featured News & Resources
Global childhood immunisation levels stalled in 2023, leaving many without life-saving protection
Global childhood immunisation coverage stalled in 2023, leaving 2.7 million additional children un- and under-vaccinated compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. The latest WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunisation coverage (WUENIC) – which provide the world’s largest and most comprehensive dataset on immunization trends for vaccinations against 14 diseases – underscore the need for ongoing catch-up, recovery and system-strengthening efforts. Uncover additional insights from these findings here.
New tools to help middle-income countries make vaccination decisions
PATH’s latest Vaccine Cost Calculators allow decision-makers and implementers in middle-income countries to compare vaccination program costs and cold chain volumes associated with different product options for pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines. These simple, Excel-based tools aim to help with decision-making to support the introduction and continued use of these important vaccines. Use the tools here.
Improving HPV vaccination uptake among adolescents in low resource settings: sociocultural and socioeconomic barriers and facilitators
In the context of competing health priorities, utilizing scarce domestic infrastructure and human resources for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination remains challenging for many lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study examined strategies to enhance HPV vaccine uptake among adolescents in LMICs using a sociocultural and socioeconomic lens, which looked at knowledge and misconceptions, societal values and stigma, and cost-benefit perception and attitude. Uncover the findings here.
UNICEF report and brief on the cost-effectiveness of integrated vaccination outreach programs in Eswatini
UNICEF, in collaboration with local stakeholders, has released a comprehensive analysis on the cost-effectiveness of integrated vaccination outreach programs in Eswatini. The analysis highlights the potential for increased cost-effectiveness through integrated services, particularly targeting zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, combining routine immunisations with essential health services. Read it here.
A scoping review to map gender barriers to immunisation coverage in low- and middle-income countries
Despite increasing recognition of the importance of gender considerations in immunisation programming, there has not yet been a systematic assessment of the evidence on gender barriers to immunisation. This scoping review helps fill that gap by documenting findings across 43 countries in Africa and South Asia. The evidence makes a compelling case that failing to address the significant gender barriers to immunisation will impede progress towards achieving greater equity in vaccine coverage, especially in LMICs. Review the findings here.
Market intelligence for vaccine procurement – General principles
Following a webinar on market intelligence for members of the Vaccine Procurement Practitioners Network (VPPN), which featured experiences from Europe and Central Asia countries focused on how they leverage market intelligence for their vaccine procurement strategy, the VPPN developed a two-pager with the webinar’s key lessons learnt at a glance. Read it here.
Countering vaccine misinformation: Designing a learning resource for healthcare workers in eight countries
This article discusses the development and implementation of a training program across eight countries (Cameroon, Guyana, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, and the United States) that aimed to enhance the skills and confidence of healthcare workers in recognizing and effectively responding to misinformation, with a particular focus on vaccinations. Learn more about the design of the program and insights gained from its application here.
Journey from a digital innovation to a sustainable health worker capacity-building app in India: experiences, challenges, and lessons learned
The Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in India developed a digital learning platform to complement classroom training and provide an interactive, engaging, faster, and more effective way to address gaps in health worker knowledge and skills in providing immunisation services. Discover their experience and lessons learned in an article here.
Vaccination decision-making among mothers of children 0–12 months old in Nigeria: A qualitative study
Nigeria is one of the ten countries where 4.3 million children under five are without complete immunisation. This study aimed to gain deeper insights into vaccination decision-making or behavior among mothers of children 0 to 12 months old in Nigeria, gaining data on enablers and barriers of vaccination. The findings can support the evidence-based design of appropriate interventions to address low vaccination uptake beyond just Nigeria. Explore the findings here.
Country Spotlights
Bhutan, Timor-Leste eliminate rubella; Achieve 2023 target of measles and rubella elimination
Bhutan and Timor-Leste eliminated measles in 2017 and 2018 respectively, and now join Maldives and Sri Lanka to achieve elimination of measles and rubella by 2023, a flagship priority program of WHO South-East Asia Region. See more about how they achieved this feat here.
Boosting vaccine storage, transportation, handling, and management in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has made remarkable progress in enhancing its immunization services in the last 3 years thanks to a procurement effort, led by WHO and funded by the European Union (EU), to strengthen the country’s cold chain system through improved vaccine storage, transportation, handling and management. Learn more here.
Building trust in vaccination: 350 health workers trained in communication in Kyrgyzstan
The WHO Country Office in Kyrgyzstan led a series of training sessions for 350 family doctors, immunologists, nurses, pediatricians and other health-care workers to reinforce their knowledge of the national immunisation calendar and enhance their ability to effectively communicate with caregivers about the importance of vaccination. Read more about how they conducted the trainings here.
Nationwide launch of U-WIN portal set to revolutionize immunisation tracking in India
The U-WIN portal, modeled on the Covid-19 vaccine management system Co-WIN, is gearing up for a nationwide rollout across India to maintain a comprehensive electronic registry of routine immunisations. Currently in pilot mode, the platform will ensure timely vaccination recording for pregnant women and children, aiming to standardize and digitize vaccination processes nationwide. Learn more about how the portal will work here.
Lagos aims to reach 1 million girls with cancer-blocking HPV shot by year’s end
As Lagos’s HPV vaccine roll-out transitions out of campaign mode towards routine immunisation in Lagos state in Nigeria, this article catches up with Dr Adetola Akinpelu, coordinator of the immunisation programme at the state Primary Health Care Board, to learn more about the country’s vaccination campaign strategies. Examine the story here.
External Events
Webinar recordings from “Implementing gender-responsive immunisation services in emergency settings” series
Through concrete examples from different countries, the final webinar in this series focused on the importance of gender mainstreaming in health and immunisation emergencies. Participants learned how rapid gender analysis during outbreaks can not only contribute to gender equity and equality but also strengthen health emergency programming at all levels. The webinar presentations and recordings are available in English here and in French here.