Evaluation
In each country, immunization programs are monitored using two different methods: an administrative method and through community-based surveys. The administrative method involves using immunization data from public, private, and NGO clinics. Thus the accuracy of the administrative method is limited by the availability and accuracy of reports from these facilities. This method is easily performed in areas where the government services deliver the immunizations directly or where the government supplies the vaccines to the clinics. In countries without the infrastructure to do this, community based surveys are used to estimate immunization coverage.
Community-based surveys are applied using a modified cluster sampling survey method developed by the World Health Organization. Vaccine coverage is evaluated using a two-stage sampling approach in which 30 clusters and seven children within each cluster are selected. Health care workers with no or limited background in statistics and sampling are able to carry out data collection with minimal training. Such a survey implementation provides a way to get information from areas where there is no reliable data source. It is also used to validate reported vaccine coverage (for example, from administrative reports) and is expected to estimate vaccine coverage within 10 percent.
Surveys or questionnaires, though frequently considered inaccurate due to self-reporting, can provide more detailed information than administrative reports alone. If home based records are available, not only can vaccination status be determined but also dates of vaccination can be reviewed to determine if vaccinations were given at an ideal age and in appropriate intervals. Missed immunizations can be identified and further qualified. Importantly, other systems of vaccine delivery besides clinics used for administrative evaluation can be identified and included in analysis.
Read more about this topic: Expanded Program On Immunization
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