Technical support and the immunization program performance in Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of a technical support aiming to improve vaccine program performance in the 10health districts (HDs) of Côte d'Ivoire, in which the largest numbers of children not vaccinated against measles were registered. These HDs benefited between June2016 and May2017, from four quarterly supportive supervisions along with technical support in health logistics and data management and quality. We had followed the evolution of the key indicators in each targeted HD and compared them to the other HDs. The measles containing vaccine coverage (MCVC) had increased and exceeded 80% in 8 out of 10 the targeted HDs. The increase of this MCVC was higher in the targeted HDs (12points versus 3points). The number of children not vaccinated against measles had been reduced by 66% and in 8 out of 10 HDs. The global drop-out rate decreased by 13points in the targeted HDs, whereas it increased by 1point in the other HDs.The timeliness increased and was more than 80% in 9 of the 10targeted HDs. The increase of this timeliness was better in the targeted HDs (35points versus 25points). The overall quality index was higher in the targeted HDs (90% versus 82%) and the score per component for targeted HDs was better. This technical support has have an positive effect on the vaccine performance of targeted HDs. The current challenge is to scale up this type of intervention to all districts in the country.