For health campaigns to be deemed successful, results must go beyond coverageA proportion (%) that reflects the number of people receiving (an) intervention(s) divided by the total number of people eligible to receive to ensure lasting impact(i) The total, direct and indirect, effects of a programme, service or institution on a health status and overall health and socio‐economic. Often, it can be difficult to determine how best to assess the success of campaigns, which can include metrics on topics of equityEquity in the context of public health campaigns refers to providing high-quality interventions uniformly and in a fair and impartial manner to, accessThe ease in reaching health services or health facilities in terms of location, time, and ease of approach., and sustainability. The following set of resources offer considerations for how health campaignTime-bound, intermittent activities which are deployed to address specific epidemiologic challenges, expediently fill delivery gaps, or provide surge coverage for health interventions. implementers and researchers can think about adopting more expansive approaches to measuring effectivenessThe ability of a campaign to achieve specific objectives related to coverage, equity, efficiency and impact.:
Test & Learn: Opportunities to Expand Campaign Effectiveness Measures Beyond Coverage
In June 2021, Dr. Andreas Hasman, Nutrition Specialist at the UNICEF Programme Division, presented an overview of the findings from his team’s research into alternative effectiveness measures that would be beneficial to program managers. 11 parameters were identified including community awarenessCommunications based activities used to raise awareness, increase community engagement, and/or create a change in behavior., community acceptance, sustainability, access, availability, service quality, clinical outcomes, responsiveness, equity, efficiencyThe ability of campaign-delivered interventions to achieve higher levels of performance (coverage, quality, or equity) relative to the inputs (resources, time, money)., and resilience. This resource includes a video of Dr. Hasman’s presentation as well as a PowerPoint presentation on his research. View Dr. Hasman’s literature review, which contains many relevant resources, here.
Transitioning from Donor Support: Lessons Learned from Nigeria’s Gavi Transition Plan Development
To sustain the country’s gains and maintain the quality of primary health care service deliveryAn immediate output of inputs placed into a health system, such as health workforce, procurement, supplies and finances. following Gavi’s investments, the Government of Nigeria, through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), developed Nigeria’s Strategy for Immunization and PHC System Strengthening (NSIPSS) in 2017. The NSIPSS is a 10-year strategy document that defines the country’s plan to transition from Gavi support. This plan, which was developed in collaborationCollaboration involves the sharing of specific campaign components between vertical health programs and can be thought of as collaborative delivery or partial with partners, highlights the financial and programmatic decisions that Nigeria will need to make to attain at least 84 percent equitable and sustained national immunization coverage for all antigens by 2028. The transition plan initially started as a 5-year strategic plan (2017 – 2021) but eventually became a 10-year plan following negotiations with Gavi.
This piece shares some of the critical lessons from Nigeria’s experience in developing a Gavi transition plan, which could help countries plan for the transition and transition extension from one donor support or the other.
Promoting gender, equity, human rights and ethnic equality in neglected tropical disease programmes
This article discusses how progress in tackling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is hindered when topics such as equity, ethnicity, and human rights are ignored or excluded. The authors make a case for incorporating equity analysis and a person-centered approach as part of national NTD programs’ routine activities.
Ending the neglect to attain the sustainable development goals: a framework for monitoring and evaluating progress of the road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021−2030
This framework is a call to action to countries and implementing partners with fully defined operational impact indicators for greater accountability and action, starting at the country level. It aims to provide guidance on mainstreaming the monitoringThe continuous oversight of an activity to assist in its supervision and to see that it proceeds according to plan. Monitoring involves and evaluationThe systematic and objective assessment of the relevance, adequacy, progress, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of a course of actions, in relation to of neglected tropical diseases within health information systemsA system designed to manage healthcare data. This includes systems that collect, store, manage and transmit a patient's electronic medical record (EMR), and emphasizes that monitoring and evaluation are integral components of interventions against neglected tropical diseases. The framework highlights the importance of standardization of indicators and defines the core set and the additional indicators to ensure comparability across the different implementational levels as well as across countries.
Factors Likely to Affect Community Acceptance of a Malaria Vaccine in Two Districts of Ghana: A Qualitative Study
Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children in Ghana. As part of the effort to inform local and national decision-making in preparation for possible malaria vaccine introduction, this qualitative study explored community-level factors that could affect vaccine acceptance in Ghana and provides recommendations for a health communications strategy.
The study was conducted in two purposively selected districts: the Ashanti and Upper East Regions. A total of 25 focus group discussions, 107 in-depth interviews, and 21 semi-structured observations at Child Welfare Clinics were conducted. Malaria was acknowledged to be one of the most common health problems among children. While mosquitoes were linked to the cause and bed nets were considered to be the main preventive method, participants acknowledged that no single measure prevented malaria. The communities highly valued vaccines and cited vaccination as the main motivation for taking children to Child Welfare Clinics. Nevertheless, knowledge of specific vaccines and what they do was limited.
While communities accepted the idea of minor vaccine side effects, other side effects perceived to be more serious could deter families from taking children for vaccination, especially during vaccination campaigns. Attendance at Child Welfare Clinics after age nine months was limited. Observations at clinics revealed that while two different opportunities for counseling were offered, little attention was given to addressing mothers’ specific concerns and to answering questions related to child immunization. Positive community attitudes toward vaccines and the understanding that malaria prevention requires a comprehensive approach would support the introduction of a malaria vaccine. These attitudes are bolstered by a well-established child welfare program and the availability in Ghana of active, flexible structures for conveying health information to communities. At the same time, it would be important to improve the quality of Child Welfare Clinic services, particularly in relation to communication around vaccination.
Gender Equality and Vitamin A Supplementation (VAS)
This resource produced by the Global Alliance for Vitamin A (GAVA) intends to assist country programs in identifying gender equality and equity considerations in their VAS programs utilizing a sex- and gender-based analysis (SGBA). Authors define key terms such as gender-unaware programs, gender-responsive programs, gender-transformative programs, gender equity, gender equality, and gender mainstreaming. Additionally, gender mainstreaming in planning and training, and awareness-raising and demand-generation is also discussed.
WHO: How can the sustainability of a public health (food fortification) program be ensured?
This rapid response document was developed for a Uganda policymaker by the Regional East African Community Health (REACH) Policy(i) A set of decisions or commitments to pursue courses of action aimed at achieving defined goals for improving health, stating or Initiative. It explores the importance of “routinization” and “standardization” processes which assess program sustainability, as well as the idea that implementationImplementation aims to develop strategies for available or new health interventions in order to improve access to, and the use of, these and standardization are concomitant.