Summary
During the period from 1st April 2017 – 31st March 2018, Child Health Foundation (CHF) continued to implement programs for the benefit of healthcare services providers and beneficiaries. This year focus was towards undertaking vaccinology and immunization practices both in public and private sector and also assessing the impact of ADVAC programs conducted over the past few years.
National Roundtable Meeting for Medical Professionals on Measles & Rubella
The National Roundtable Meeting for Medical Professionals on Measles & Rubella was held on 30th July, 2017 at Hotel Holiday Inn, Aero city, New Delhi. The meeting was organized by Child Health Foundation with support from Unicef India. A total of 65 participants, most of them pediatricians, attended the meeting from across the country. Officials from Immunization division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and from partner organizations like NHM, WHO- NPSP, CDC, Global Health Strategies, Latter Day Saints’ Charities, Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine (IAPSM), Federation of Obstetric & Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) & Society of Midwives of India (SOMI) were also present for the meeting.
Landscape Study of the ADVAC/ EVAC Courses Initiated by CHF to Strengthen the Capacity of the Stakeholders on Vaccine and Vaccine-Related Issues
A survey was conducted to understand the effect of the ADVAC/ EVAC course on the immunization landscape in the targeted area through interactions with key stakeholders and beneficiaries of the programme.
Attendees of ADVAC 2011 & 2016, and EVAC 2017 served as participant Universe. For quantitative assessment all the attendees were approached based on their contact details available from course records. Total 38 participants responded to online survey including nine EPI managers and 29 practicing pediatricians. For qualitative assessment, participants were selected in discussion with course organizers to ensure representative sample from different regions and cadres. Total 16 participants were interviewed including five district and state level program managers / consultants, six national level consultants, and five practicing pediatricians from government and private setups. The attempt was to ensure that participants from all strata were involved across all layers of the health structure with emphasis on those involved in policy making.
Total study duration was five months including three weeks of tool development and finalization, week-long training for research assistant, two months for data collection and remaining time for data analysis and report writing.