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. 2016 May 1;213 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):S67-72.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiv493. Epub 2015 Nov 25.

Tracking Vaccination Teams During Polio Campaigns in Northern Nigeria by Use of Geographic Information System Technology: 2013-2015

Kebba Touray  1 , Pascal Mkanda  2 , Sisay G Tegegn  1 , Peter Nsubuga  3 , Tesfaye B Erbeto  1 , Richard Banda  1 , Andrew Etsano  3 , Faisal Shuaib  3 , Rui G Vaz  1
Affiliations

Tracking Vaccination Teams During Polio Campaigns in Northern Nigeria by Use of Geographic Information System Technology: 2013-2015

Kebba Touray et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Introduction: Nigeria is among the 3 countries in which polio remains endemic. The country made significant efforts to reduce polio transmission but remains challenged by poor-quality campaigns and poor team performance in some areas. This article demonstrates the application of geographic information system technology to track vaccination teams to monitor settlement coverage, reduce the number of missed settlements, and improve team performance.

Methods: In each local government area where tracking was conducted, global positioning system-enabled Android phones were given to each team on a daily basis and were used to record team tracks. These tracks were uploaded to a dashboard to show the level of coverage and identify areas missed by the teams.

Results: From 2012 to June 2015, tracking covered 119 immunization days. A total of 1149 tracking activities were conducted. Of these, 681 (59%) were implemented in Kano state. There was an improvement in the geographic coverage of settlements and an overall reduction in the number of missed settlements.

Conclusions: The tracking of vaccination teams provided significant feedback during polio campaigns and enabled supervisors to evaluate performance of vaccination teams. The reports supported other polio program activities, such as review of microplans and the deployment of other interventions, for increasing population immunity in northern Nigeria.

Keywords: dashboard; geographic coverage of settlements; team performance; tracking vaccination teams.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Local government areas (LGAs) tracked, by campaign month, Kano state during February 2013 through June 2015 in northern Nigerian states mapped by global information system technology.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Vaccination tracking geographic coverage, by Nigerian state and month, during May 2014–June 2015. Figure from Vaccination Tracking System.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Proportion of settlements in Kano state visited over time, by settlement type. “Hamlet Buster” was an activity that was conducted to locate and name hamlets using tablets uploaded with ward maps. Abbreviations: HA, hamlet area; SSA, small-settlement area; UBA, urban area; VDPV2, vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2; WPV1, wild poliovirus type 1. Figure from A. Upfill-Brown, Institute for Disease Modeling.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Areas visited by vaccination teams during polio campaigns in northern Nigeria, highlighting main vaccination activities (days 1–4 of campaigns) and mop-up activities (day 5; final campaign day). Figure from Vaccination Tracking System.
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