Vaccine Centre Scientific Meeting
This seminar provided an opportunity to learn about two programmes aimed at increasing immunisation uptake in different geographic contexts and discuss the methods that were used to evaluate these interventions.
Stuart Green & Saumu Lwembe – ‘Improving childhood vaccination: The celebrate and protect programme in London’
Childhood vaccination remains a primary mechanism for reducing the burden of infectious diseases and ensuring that vaccination targets are met. The ‘Celebrate and Protect’ programme was developed to improve the uptake of childhood vaccination across several boroughs within London. A celebration card was used to encourage attendance for vaccination and enhance relationships between general practices and parents/carers of children. The programme was delivered in three waves across 15 boroughs between July 2012 and April 2014. This presentation will discuss challenges encountered in delivering and evaluating the programme; engaging front line primary care staff, working with industry partners, using routinely collected data, and the changing landscape of public health.
Tracey Chantler, Emilie Karafillakis & Bersabeh Sile – ‘The Fifth Child Project: Closing the Immunization Gap in Beningshangul-Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia’
From Jan-Dec 2016 we conducted a formative evaluation of the International Rescue Committees ‘Fifth Child Project’. This project uses a combination of tools and training initiatives to try and close the immunization gap in rural areas of western Ethiopia. At the start of our talk we will show a short video which describes how the ‘Enat Mastawesha’ (Mother’s reminder – colour coded calendar) and a vaccine defaulter tracing system are used to support the delivery of Family Health Services Packages, as part of the Health Extension Programme. We will then outline our evaluation design and present initial findings.
