Evaluation of the impact of an intervention programme to revamp cold chain system and improve childhood immunization in Egbedore, Nigeria: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background: In 2016, the immunization coverage in Nigeria ranged from 3% in Sokoto State to 80% in Lagos State while the national coverage was 33.3%. This is lower than the world health organization’s recommendation of over 90%. Immunization coverages in Osun State and Egbedore, Osun State (the study area) were 60% and 83% in respectively. Immunizations for specific vaccine preventable diseases are given to reduce infant morbidity and mortality. An intervention programme to revamp cold chain system was conducted to increase the immunization coverage and reduce the proportion of unimmunized children in Egbedore. The intervention programme comprised of focus group discussion involving immunization teams and mothers of under-five children, cold-chain inventory, observation of normal routine immunization (RI) sessions and observation of immunization outreaches. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the intervention programme toward improving childhood immunization and increasing child survival in Egbedore Methods: The study utilized a retrospective design, purposive sampling technique and secondary data. Results: The result showed that before the intervention the proportion of unimmunized children for oral polio vaccine-3 (OPV3) was 0.27 which reduced to 0.17 (χ2=169.441, p<0.0001) after the intervention while for pentavalent vaccine-3, the proportion of children unimmunized was 0.28 before the intervention and reduced to 0.19 after the intervention, (χ2=171,059, p<0.0001) Conclusions: The study concluded that regular cold chain equipment (CCE) inventory, repair and supply are germane to ensuring functionality while at least five immunization outreaches are required to be conducted per political ward to enhance optimal immunization coverage.