Strengthening health systems for monitoring and planning immunization
About the project
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted child immunization nationwide. In this challenging context for the entire health system, the World Health Organization recommends avoiding disruptions in the national vaccination program. However, surveillance data from Romania indicate a decrease in vaccination coverage.
This decline in vaccination rates is due to several factors, some independent of the pandemic context: increasing anti-vaccine campaigns, uneven primary healthcare coverage, particularly in rural areas, limited capacity of county public health authorities to manage low vaccination rates due to staff shortages, limited public knowledge about vaccination and the lack of consistent national information campaigns on vaccine benefits, difficulties in centralized vaccine procurement, and low access to healthcare for certain populations.
In 2022, the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation, with the support of UNICEF Romania and the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), aims to strengthen the capacity of 11 County Public Health Departments in Romania to improve vaccination coverage at the county level.
Based on the low measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates recorded at 18 months and the interest expressed by epidemiologists from the Public Health Departments, the following counties have been included in the project: Bihor, Brașov, Caraș-Severin, Constanța, Gorj, Hunedoara, Mureș, Sălaj, Suceava, Vaslui, and Vrancea.
Objectives
The purpose and objectives of the project are:
- Strengthening the capacity of the 11 County Public Health Departments (DSPJ) involved in the project to identify unvaccinated, unregistered, or lost-to-follow-up children and to plan their catch-up for increased vaccination coverage.
- Developing an advocacy plan to promote the adoption, budgeting, and implementation of the Multiannual National Immunization Plan.
Activities
The first objective will be achieved with the support of medical staff from the County Public Health Departments (DSPJ) designated to participate in the project, alongside expert epidemiologists and public health professionals from the National Institute of Public Health (INSP).
Collaborating experts will contribute their experience and expertise to process and analyze epidemiological data from the counties involved in the project and will develop necessary documents for the RAA team to implement activities.
The conclusions and recommendations produced by experts in the 11 reports mapping existing vaccination tracking mechanisms at the county level, local and national public policy analysis on immunization, and the 11 drafts of budgeted local immunization plans will form the basis for developing a training curriculum for medical staff in the DSPJ departments involved in the project. Training sessions will include theoretical components, working tools, and practical parts focused on solutions for problems identified in the selected counties.
A visit is also planned for the project team, accompanied by designated DSPJ staff, for an exchange of experience and best practices with similar public institutions in a European country with successful vaccination coverage.
The second objective is to develop an advocacy plan based on the results obtained earlier in the project, which will support the approval and budgeting of the Multiannual National Immunization Plan, essential for increasing vaccination catch-up for children in our country.
Resources
To access the resources developed within the project, please visit our page HERE.
