Presentation

Strengthening Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) through facility-based supportive supervision in pastoralist and hard-to-reach part of Ethiopia: the experience of CORE Group Ethiopia

Background

• The surveillance intervention in Ethiopia has not adequately involved the community to be part of the surveillance system.
• Engaging the community for early AFP case detection and timely response is very important for polio eradication.
• In Ethiopia active surveillance of AFP has been conducted at community and health facility (HF) levels.
• Community Volunteers (CVs) are the backbone of Community Base Surveillance (CBS) program of CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) Ethiopia.
• CVs after a three days training deployed to carry-out: pregnant women and new-born identification, registration and referral to HFs for Antenatal care and immunization, immunizations defaulter tracing, community education and actively searching and reporting cases of AFP/Measles/NNT.