Investigation of the drivers of RI system performance in Africa

The potential of immunization to improve public health continues to grow as new vaccines against major diseases are developed. The recent infusions of support for global immunization, both through the recent replenishment of GAVI Alliance funding and the Decade of Vaccines, will increase the worldwide availability of new and underutilized vaccines. But any vaccine is only as effective as the system that delivers it. Thus, it is vital to understand what drives strong immunization program performance, particularly in low-resource settings facing substantial obstacles to routine immunization. The Africa Routine Immunization System Essentials (ARISE) project, managed by John Snow, Inc. with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, documents successful interventions that drive strong routine immunization system performance in Africa and analyzes their potential for diffusion throughout the region. ARISE translates these tested solutions into focused options for supporting routine immunization at the global, regional, national, and sub-national levels. As a first step, ARISE conducted a landscape analysis (LA) to identify potential drivers of strong routine immunization performance in Africa. A report of the LA, entitled “Landscape Analysis Synopsis: An Initial Investigation of the Drivers of Routine Immunization System Performance in Africa” is available in the document's section of the TechNet21 website. Comprising a literature review, interviews with key informants, and secondary data analysis, the LA uses a multi-level framework (encompassing the immunization system, health system, and broad country context) to identify drivers of strong routine immunization performance in Africa. The systematic search for literature on this topic revealed that the great majority of documents on routine immunization in Africa focus on deficiencies and obstacles rather than contributors to successful performance. Currently, ARISE is carrying out in-depth studies in Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Ghana to identify and explore drivers in three different settings. The studies aim to improve understanding of the link between drivers and performance and to their relative importance in the context of immunization programs. Findings from these studies will be used to develop and refine options for supporting routine immunization to help ensure that all children are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. We hope you find the landscape analysis report useful and welcome your thoughts about it. Please send them to us at [email protected] Sincerely, Robert Steinglass Project Director The ARISE Project