Polio supplementary immunization campaign evaluation: The Maban experience, South Sudan, August 2013

Abstract

The recent polio outbreak in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia demanded a safety net Sub-National Immunization Days (SNIDs) for four bordering States, including Upper Nile. Aiming to reach children aged 0-59 months, a house-to-house strategy was employed from 20-23 of August 2013 to vaccinate all children in Maban County. The post Campaign evaluation is conducted to assess coverage by finger mark (quality by proxy) and help to ensure improvements for subsequent campaigns.

The main objective of the evaluation was to assess the quality of the campaign to learn lessons for subsequent plans.

A total of 31 clusters were covered from both host and refugee areas for this evaluation. Hence, 310 households have been visited by the evaluators. A total of 802 <5 children were enrolled for this evaluation purpose.

According to the finding, 97.5% of the children living in the surveyed households have been vaccinated for this round of polio SNIDs, as reported by families; i.e., coverage by history. On the other hand, 87.7% of the children have been vaccinated based on the finger mark; i.e., coverage by finger marks. One hundred and nine children have been missed out of 802 children living in the surveyed households. Besides, 46 children have been identified as first doses of OPV in this campaign, which is 5.9% of the total surveyed children. In addition, 52.3% of families had been investigated for AFP by the vaccination teams. Besides, more than three-fourth of the families knew the campaign before the vaccination team visited their houses.

It is recommended to strengthen basic/refresher training of vaccinators, improving supportive supervision, proper estimation of target population and improving social mobilization activities.