Stakeholders Identify Factors Inhibiting Immunization In Rivers

In spite of successes recorded so far in immunization in Rivers State, there are indications that factors such as inadequate social mobilisation and poor community ownership of immunization process are among factors limiting the success of immunization in the state.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day high level summit organised by the Rivers State Government and the State Primary Health Care Management Board, in collaboration with UNICEF, Rivers field office, on the challenges facing immunization delivery activities in Rivers State.
The communiqué also listed other challenges to immunization delivery to include inconsistent cold chain logistics, poor data management, inadequate capacity building and funding/training operations, as well as ineffective monitoring supervision and service delivery.
Others are manpower shortage and attrition, political commitment, access, and accountability.
For an effective and successful immunization in Rivers State, therefore, the communiqué recommends that the state government and health agencies and departments would need to encourage and support local governments to set up and sustain social mobilization committees.
Membership of such committees should be influential members of communities, who should be involved from the planning of immunization sessions and campaigns, in order to enhance ownership of the process.
To enhance the cold chain logistics, the communiqué called for the state Primary Health Care Management Board to regularly update the state cold chain inventory across all levels.
To ensure the entry of credible and reliable data, the communiqué stated that “it is imperative that repeated and regular training on District Health Information System (DHIS) be conducted for health staff across the board in public and private health facilities and institutions”.
Towards achieving adequate capacity building, funding and operations, it stated that health agencies should encourage and sustain the “peer-to-peer”.
(P2P) learning scheme for health facilities, which were instituted in 2016 by the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), across all health facilities (primary, secondary and tertiary) and also extend the learning curriculum beyond immunization topics.
In terms of monitoring supervision and service delivery, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), state government and partners “will need to be more robustly support supportive supervision activities”.
Again, while the state government should view the retention of capable staff as a priority, it “should promote adherence to progressive civil service rules and general orders at all levels of governance.
“Government ministries and agencies should ensure a sustained system of prompt payment of salaries, etc. This is believed to be the first and most basic incentive to a worker, or wage earner”.
The communiqué further recommended more political commitment below the level of the governor, and access should be created to all hard-to-reach areas of the LGAs, while a functional accountability frame work should also be put in place at all levels of immunization for both workers and policy makers.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo