Impact and effect mechanisms of mass campaigns in resource-constrained health systems: quasi-experimental evidence from polio eradication in Nigeria

Multi-country review of ITN routine distribution data: are ANC and EPI channels achieving their potential?

BACKGROUND

Routine continuous distribution (CD) of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) has been an important part of an overall ITN strategy to complement mass campaigns since the early 2000s. The backbone of CD implementation for many sub-Saharan African countries is distribution through antenatal care (ANC) and Expanded Programme for Immunizations (EPI) channels. Performance of these channels is often not monitored closely at the national level, nor is it reviewed globally, unlike the oversight provided to mass campaigns. The question as to why every eligible pregnant woman and child attending these services does not get an ITN remains important and yet, unanswered.

METHODS

ANC and EPI issuing rates from seven countries were reviewed with the aim of conducting a blinded multi-country analysis. Monthly data from January to December 2021 was extracted from each country's health management information system and analysed jointly with a National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) focal point. VectorLink CD assessment reports were also reviewed to glean key findings.

RESULTS

ITN issuing rates varied across countries at ANC (31% to 93%) and EPI (39% to 92%). Across the seven countries, the median ITN issuing rate was 64% at ANC and 78% at EPI. Results varied greatly across months per country at both ANC and EPI. NMCP focal points are aware that mass campaigns often negatively affect implementation of ITN distribution through ANC and EPI, even though global and national guidelines emphasize sustaining CD during campaigns. Concerns were also raised about the standard ITN issuing rate indicator at ANC and even more so at EPI due to the denominator. Findings from CD assessments were similar across countries: ITN stock was inconsistent and sometimes inadequate, and updated guidelines on ITN distribution and utilization and funding for social behaviour change activities were lacking at the facility level.

CONCLUSION

The importance of optimizing ANC and EPI routine channels cannot be underscored enough. They are at the frontline to protect the most biologically vulnerable populations, i.e., pregnant women and unborn and young children. Although there are encouraging signs of improvement in issuing rates with some countries reaching optimal rates, further improvements are needed to ensure that every pregnant woman and young child receives the ITN to which they are entitled.

Zero- or missed-dose children in Nigeria: Contributing factors and interventions to overcome immunization service delivery challenges

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Comprehensive review of recent literature on zero- or missed-dose children in Nigeria.

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Risk factors are well-known and widely studied.

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Literature on interventions was scattered, and focussed on campaigns and polio.

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Gaps exist in investigating how to deliver sustainable immunization programs.

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Further work is needed to operationalise findings of this review.

'Zero-dose' refers to a person who does not receive a single dose of any vaccine in the routine national immunization schedule, while ‘missed dose’ refers to a person who does not complete the schedule. These people remain vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, and are often already disadvantaged due to poverty, conflict, and lack of access to basic health services. Globally, more 22.7 million children are estimated to be zero- or missed-dose, of which an estimated 3.1 million (∼14 %) reside in Nigeria. We conducted a scoping review to synthesize recent literature on risk factors and interventions for zero- and missed-dose children in Nigeria. Our search identified 127 papers, including research into risk factors only (n = 66); interventions only (n = 34); both risk factors and interventions (n = 18); and publications that made recommendations only (n = 9). The most frequently reported factors influencing childhood vaccine uptake were maternal factors (n = 77), particularly maternal education (n = 22) and access to ante- and perinatal care (n = 19); heterogeneity between different types of communities – including location, region, wealth, religion, population composition, and other challenges (n = 50); access to vaccination, i.e., proximity of facilities with vaccines and vaccinators (n = 37); and awareness about immunization – including safety, efficacy, importance, and schedules (n = 18). Literature assessing implementation of interventions was more scattered, and heavily skewed towards vaccination campaigns and polio eradication efforts. Major evidence gaps exist in how to deliver effective and sustainable routine childhood immunization. Overall, further work is needed to operationalise the learnings from these studies, e.g. through applying findings to Nigeria’s next review of vaccination plans, and using this summary as a basis for further investigation and specific recommendations on effective interventions.

A qualitative exploration of the contributions of Polio Eradication Initiative to the Nigerian health system: policy implications for polio transition planning

BACKGROUND

The Nigerian health care system is weak due to lack of coordination, fragmentation of services by donor funding of vertical services, dearth and poor distribution of resources, and inadequate infrastructures. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has supported the country's health system and provided strategies and skills which need to be documented for use by other health programs attempting disease control or eradication. This study, therefore, explored the contributions of the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) activities to the operations of other health programs within the Nigerian health system from the perspectives of frontline workers and managers.

METHODS

This cross-sectional qualitative study used key informant interviews (KIIs) and inductive thematic analysis. Twenty-nine KIIs were conducted with individuals who have been involved continuously in PEI activities for at least 12 months since the program's inception. This research was part of a more extensive study, the Synthesis and Translation of Research and Innovations from Polio Eradication (STRIPE), conducted in 2018. The KII tool focused on four major themes: work experience in other health programs, similarities and differences between polio programs and other health programs, contributions of polio programs, and missed opportunities for implementing polio lessons. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a thematic framework.

RESULTS

The implementation of the PEI has increased health promotion activities and coverage of maternal and child health interventions through the development of tangible and intangible resources, building the capacities of health workers and discovering innovations. The presence of a robust PEI program within a weakened health system of similar programs lacking such extensive support led to a shift in health workers' primary roles. This was perceived to reduce human resources efforts in rural areas with a limited workforce, and to affect other programs' service delivery.

CONCLUSION

The PEI has made a notable impact on the Nigerian health system. There should be hastened efforts to transition these resources from the PEI into other programs where there are missed opportunities and future control programs. The primary health care managers should continue integration efforts to ensure that programs leverage opportunities within successful programs to improve the health of the community members.

30 years of polio campaigns in Ethiopia, India and Nigeria: the impacts of campaign design on vaccine hesitancy and health worker motivation

Introduction

The debate over the impact of vertical programmes, including mass vaccination, on health systems is long-standing and often polarised. Studies have assessed the effects of a given vertical health programme on a health system separately from the goals of the vertical programme itself. Further, these health system effects are often categorised as either positive or negative. Yet health systems are in fact complex, dynamic and tightly linked. Relationships between elements of the system determine programme and system-level outcomes over time.

Methods

We constructed a causal loop diagram of the interactions between mass polio vaccination campaigns and government health systems in Ethiopia, India and Nigeria, working inductively from two qualitative datasets. The first dataset was 175 interviews conducted with policymakers, officials and frontline staff in these countries in 2011–2012. The second was 101 interviews conducted with similar groups in 2019, focusing on lessons learnt from polio eradication.

Results

Pursuing high coverage in polio campaigns, without considering the dynamic impacts of campaigns on health systems, cost campaign coverage gains over time in weaker health systems with many campaigns. Over time, the systems effects of frequent campaigns, delivered through parallel structures, led to a loss of frontline worker motivation, and an increase in vaccine hesitancy in recipient populations. Co-delivery of interventions helped to mitigate these negative effects. In stronger health systems with fewer campaigns, these issues did not arise.

Conclusion

It benefits vertical programmes to reduce the construction of parallel systems and pursue co-delivery of interventions where possible, and to consider the workflow of frontline staff. Ultimately, for health campaign designs to be effective, they must make sense for those delivering and receiving campaign interventions, and must take into account the complex, adaptive nature of the health systems in which they operate.