Applying quality improvement tools to the Reaching Every District strategy: a mixed-methods examination of a systems strengthening approach to building the capacity of immunization managers and service providers in Ethiopia.

The Reaching Every District (RED) strategy, implemented in Ethiopia for over 15 years, has helped to improve immunization performance. However, recent demographic and health survey data indicate wide variations in immunization coverage. To address these disparities, quality improvement (QI) tools and methods were applied in phases to the RED strategy between 2011 and 2018 and were ultimately scaled to 103 districts in Ethiopia.

Early Lessons From Ethiopia in Establishing a Data Triangulation Process to Analyze Immunization Program and Supply Data for Decision Making.

Strengthening data use and quality is critical to achieving high, equitable immunization coverage. One approach that is being increasingly recognized as effective in improving data use and quality is data triangulation, which can provide more information for decision making in public health programs.In Ethiopia, immunization program data has had ongoing quality challenges, including timeliness, completeness, and accuracy.

Lessons Learned From Integrating Infant and Young Child Feeding Counseling and Iron-Folic Acid Distribution Into Routine Immunization Services in Ethiopia.

Immunization programs reach more children and communities than any other health intervention, thus making immunization a promising platform for integrating other essential health services. There is a dearth of literature on integrating nutrition interventions, such as infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counseling and iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation, into routine immunization services.To address this evidence gap, a 15-month pilot study (August 2019 to November 2020) tested the feasibility of integrating IYCF counseling and IFA supplement distribution into immunization service delivery in Ethiopia.

Immunization review meetings: "Low Hanging Fruit" for capacity building and data quality improvement?

Introduction: Although systematic program review meetings are common practice in many health and immunization programs, there is little documentation on their implementation and role. Adult education principles espouse opportunities for peer exchange to build capacity and cross-learning, for which review meetings have been a forum utilized in immunization programs for many years. This study describes the process and use of review meetings to build immunization technical capacity in four African countries since 2011.