Using geospatial data to reach zero-dose children
Attaining high vaccination coverage rates is challenging, yet increasingly important to protect communities across Africa from vaccine-preventable diseases. Zambia's Expanded Program on Immunizations (EPI), under GAVI support, is working with key partners (Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Churches Health Association of Zambia) to roll out country-wide routine immunization programming. Over the next five years, EPI aims to achieve over 95% vaccination coverage.
To achieve that goal, the EPI and its partners joined forces with Akros to build and use planning maps to support local decision making. These maps are used during "microplanning" to identify the resources and time required to get vaccines to all eligible individuals.
Previous planning processes and tools have been described by local managers as “very complex <which> take a long time to fill out, duplicates data entry and produces outputs that are often not able to be used or implemented”. Also, rudimentary hand drawn maps have been considered a “useful tool but do not reflect reality, do not show enough detail and don’t provide direct inputs into micro planning templates”.
Such rudimentary maps can also lead to entire communities being left out of service delivery.
"Hand drawn maps are a useful tool but do not reflect reality, do not show enough detail, and don’t provide direct inputs into the micro planning template."
Dr. Kennedy Matanda Deputy EPI Manager, Ministry of Health Zambia
TTo address those challenges, Akros is equipping district-level and health facility staff with both large-scale paper based maps and digital soft copy maps which can be actively used to visualize the distribution of populated settlements, understand travel distances, and help determine the most efficient strategies for vaccination campaigns down to zone or sub-catchment level. Through this process, the EPI will have a more automated data use approach versus the tedious paper-based processes health facility staff used previously. The EPI will receive real time updates on vaccination progress. These tools align with the currently used ‘Reaching Every District (RED)’ planning templates, a WHO-framework for planning vaccination campaigns.
"Maps need to allow health facilities and their staff to clearly understand their geographical extent and population distribution so that they can agree on concrete boundaries for their health facility and zones ensuring no settlements are missed and that there is no overlaps in immunization delivery. Having clear accurate zone boundaries will make everyone accountable for their own areas"
Maps built for 2,790 health facilities
Understanding current planning processes has been a key first step in this project to identify opportunities to streamline, improve accuracy, and reduce overburdensome workloads. Akros conducted an in-depth scoping process including a full desk review and key interviews with 12 organizations and government departments across Zambia. Currently, Akros is building a series of maps for all 2,790 health facilities in Zambia and, in collaboration with WorldPop, producing an up to date settlement layer across the country that includes disaggregated population, travel distance, travel time and urbanicity attributes, all critical for good planning and ultimately tracking down and vaccination remaining pockets of zero dose children. As a bonus, GIS data produced under this project will ultimately provide valuable resources for all other health programs going through similar planning processes.
Starting in December 2024, the maps are being distributed across all health facilities in Zambia as an EPI Program tool to guide improved vaccination micro planning activities while the digital micro planning tool will be rolled out to 23 districts across Zambia.
The power of geospatial data in the hands of decision makers.
Digital map and dashboards
For planning staff interested in digital microplanning, a digital dashboard and digital map are available as well.
Maps bring teams together
The maps are used to inform real-time conversations of where campaigns should start and finish.
Maps guide decision making
Staff from Mazabuka District Health Office point to where a vaccination site should be placed based on knowledge gained through viewing the maps.
Bwalya Mukuka
Field Manager, Akros
Derek Pollard
Portfolio Lead, Akros
Anna Winters
Co-founder and CEO, Akros
For more information info@akros.com
www.akros.com
Thanks to: Zambia Ministry of Health, Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI); GAVI the Vaccine Alliance; Centre for Infectious Disease Research Zambia (CIDRZ); WorldPop; Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ); GeoGoose.
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