The Third Party Verification of Immunization Coverage Survey (TPVICS) on Thursday revealed that 75.3 percent of children aged 12-23 months are fully immunized in Pakistan.
The dissemination event of the Third Party Verification Immunization Survey (TPVICS) which was organized here was supported by the World Bank and Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by Agha Khan University Karachi.
The survey provided a complete picture of the progress reported by the provincial EPI programme against Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLI) under the NISP (National Immunization Support Project).
The objective of the survey was to verify the reported immunization coverage data and provide additional data on indicators that measure demand-side issues impacting immunization coverage in Pakistan.
The key finding of the survey states that 75.3% of the children ages between 12-23 months are fully immunized. Around 93% of the target children were immunized with Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, while 83.6 % were immunized with Penta 3 antigen at the national level. Two-third (66.3%) of mothers presented immunization cards of their children.
Overall, 88,762 clusters, 109,495 Households (HHs) and 110,905 children were covered in TPVICS. Children born during September 2018 to January 2019 were also enrolled in the survey.
The DLI-I of the NISP was to assess the coverage of the fully immunized children aged between 12-23 months in the provinces and federating areas. The results of the survey revealed that Punjab and Balochistan had achieved the third-year DLI target of NISP for fully immunized children.
The DLI 3 was meant to report the percentage of districts in each province reporting at least 80% coverage of Penta 3 immunization among children aged between 12-23 months. According to the survey, Punjab and KP achieved their respective targets.
The DLI 8 which assess vaccination cards retention among children under two year in each project province. According to the survey, Punjab and KP have achieved the year four target of NISP vaccination card retention.
The DLI 10 which aimed to assess fully immunized coverage among children aged 12-23 months in 10 mega districts of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, KP and Islamabad. According to the survey, 73.5 % children were fully immunized in these districts.
On the occasion, Dr. Akram Shah, National Programme Manager EPI appreciated the efforts of all partners including the provincial and district authorities for the cooperation in providing the information for the survey.
He explained as this survey comes under the National Immunization Support Project (NISP), which was conceptualized and is under implementation to support the EPI programme in terms of policy and implementation.
He said that NISP has nine Directly Linked Indicators (DLIs) covering all important aspects of immunization, such as coverage, surveillance, financing, card retention, etc. He added, that this kind of study will help us to devise better strategies to fill up the identified gaps.
All the donors’ representatives (BMGF, Gavi, USAID, World Bank) have appreciated the encouraging survey results which depict a 10 % improvement in immunization coverage.
The representatives of partner organizations like UNICEF and WHO also congratulated the Government of Pakistan for such promising results. They ensured their commitment to work together to further improve the immunization coverage in Pakistan.
During the event Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services, Dr. Faisal Sultan distributed the shields among the high-performing provinces. Later addressing the occasion, he said, “I am very glad to see the findings of the TPVICS. I highly appreciate the efforts of the entire EPI team and the partners for completing the survey in record time.” “Such findings are really helpful for future planning to overcome the existing gaps in achieving the targets in the future. I would like to acknowledge and appreciate the combined efforts of Federal EPI, Provincial EPI Programs, WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, BMGF, USAID, and AKU.”
He said, “I must appreciate all the front line workers for reaching out to each child in hard-to-reach areas facing challenging weather and difficult situations. Please do encourage all the teams at all levels who have played an important role in getting things done and especially those workers who are working diligently day and night to improve the state of immunization in Pakistan.”
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