Tag: immunization
Data use champions help unlock success
May 11, 2017
One of the BID Initiative’s core values is to “learn fast, fail fast, share fast” and since BID partnered with the Zambia Ministry of Health in 2014, there have been many learnings along the way.
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Immunization demand generation in Afar, Ethiopia
Nov 7, 2016
PATH recently released a report on our demand generation efforts to increase immunization uptake in Afar, Ethiopia. Vaccine uptake in the remote region of Afar was hampered by poor infrastructure, difficulty reaching nomadic populations, and keeping vaccines cold in one of the hottest places on earth. While the whole of Ethiopia reports 19 percent of children under 5 not immunized, immunization coverage in the Afar region falls to 9 percent among children 12-23 months old.
Read MoreProject Profile – BID Initiative
Oct 19, 2016
The second half of the 20th century marked a period of great advancement in immunization. As donors and national governments stepped up investments to develop vaccines and strengthen routine immunization programs, infectious diseases that once ravaged much of the world were either wiped out or largely stripped of their devastating impact. The achievements of the past century now read like a laundry list—smallpox eradicated, wild poliovirus is more than 99% eliminated and cases of measles and Hib among children under-five now reduced to record low numbers.
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My early memories led to a life serving others
Aug 17, 2016
My most vivid memories of my early childhood are twofold: lying on a hospital bed with my legs in the air, and watching my younger brother draw his last breath as a result of severe hot water burns he suffered during his hospitalization in what was then Northern Rhodesia. According to my parents, I should not have remembered these instances as I was less than five years old at the time, but these memories remain crystal clear.
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Simple Interventions Keep our Children Healthy
Jul 6, 2016
Sitting in his office in Lusaka, Dr. Francis Mwansa smiles. “I decided early in my career that I wanted to give back to the community as soon as possible because I might not have the chance later in life.” The desire to give back to his community changed the trajectory of this young doctor’s career, but brought something special to Zambia’s health service.
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Saving Lives Through Essential Vaccines: Reimagining “Routine” Immunization
Jun 5, 2015
We admit, immunization data might not be the most thrilling of topics. But, at the heart of it, we are using immunization data to reach more kids and save lives from life-threatening, vaccine-preventable diseases. In the same vein, the following post appeared on PATH.org’s blog discussing the need to rethink the phrase “Routine Immunization” and the impact behind it, mentioning our work at the BID Initiative.
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From Malaria to Immunization Data
Apr 24, 2015
I’ve worked in the field of malaria for close to 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa, which experiences a high burden. My choice of career was based on my personal encounter with malaria and the reality of its devastating effects on society in a developing economy. In 1981, when I was temping with a hospital, a lady with a baby on her back walked into the Outpatient Department. She wanted her baby checked because she was ill and getting worse.
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A Sister With Polio, My Children Will Never Miss An Immunization
Apr 23, 2015
“I am very committed when it comes to immunization, I make sure all my children are immunized according to the schedule and no one misses a vaccination,” explained Fathiya Mohammed, a mother of three children. I met Fathiya at Kaloleni Health Facility in the Arusha region where she brought her 6 week-old baby, Samir Ally, for his first round of vaccinations. Also with her, were her two other daughters, Samira and Salha.
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Sharing Immunization Knowledge to Save Lives
Apr 21, 2015
During a routine immunization session at Simoonga rural health center in Livingstone, Zambia, I met 27-year old Monde Imasiku waiting in line for her one and a half-year old twins to get vaccinated. Monde walks over four kilometers to reach this health facility carrying her twins Mukela and Nobu, while four-year old Sililo walks by her side.
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Targeting Specific Diseases vs. Health System Strengthening in Zambia
Apr 16, 2015
As we work towards increasing immunization coverage rates in Zambia through increased data collection, quality, and use, we take a moment to review a recent study in BMC Medicine by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, USAID, among others. The results beg the question, are routine health services, such as child immunizations, suffering as the focus grows towards disease specific interventions? The following excerpts are from an article originally published on Humanosphere, authored by Tom Paulson.
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