WHO Country Office Bangladesh has been supporting the Government of Bangladesh to improve routine immunization coverage and quality in the country in many ways. Recently, WHO Bangladesh provided technical and financial support to train mid-level managers and supervisors of the national Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) on a data quality self-assessment (DQS) tool, which can be applied to monitor and evaluate routine immunization activities and identify ways to improve routine EPI coverage.
Two three-day training sessions were carried out with participants from six districts and two city corporations in Dhaka division. The training involved a mixture of lectures, group work and field visits and was facilitated by EPI staff and technical staff from WHO Bangladesh. Participants were able to learn and develop their skills in conducting DQS at district and upazila levels, which will eventually contribute to improving immunization and managing the EPI programme more effectively.
In total, 44 mid-level managers and supervisors were trained. Following the training, these participants carried out 32 DQS, identified the strengths and weaknesses and were able to share their findings with relevant staff in district/city corporation meetings. In addition, 12 Surveillance Medical Officers and District Maternal, Child Health and Immunization Officers were also trained and will provide support to the government in conducting DQS. More DQS trainings are being planned in the coming months.