Mindo Nainggolan’s Updates
INDONESIA: How to reach children who are not vaccinated at remote area in Papua
Selected transformative investment: Identify undervaccinated and unvaccinated persons and regularly provide them with the vaccines they need.
There was a Polio outbreak in Papua because above 40% children were under-vaccinated because geographical (Most of population in Papua still live on Mountation), health workers’ attitudes, service reliability, family and community health-seeking behaviors, and lack of understanding. .
Strategies and activities:
1. Raise awareness of the importance of comprehensive home-based records;
It is still very important to inform the importance of immunization to health workers and community. In Papua, we need a person who can speak local language to share the information to community. On the other hand, the coordinator program has willingness to do their responsibility
2. Use VPD surveillance and campaign monitoring opportunities to identify unvaccinated and undervaccinated children; Not only health worker could be a surveillance team, but community has a big role. PHC could socialize how to find AFP cases in Church, Terminal, Beach, Supermarket, etc.
3. Find “invisible children” left out of any system; May be, health workers could use flying drone to seek the children or has air crafts as transportation, need to build health services near to community, and providing a real data.
4. Improve the friendliness, convenience, efficiency and quality of services at health facilities. Not only how to have a electric to support the cold chain management system. We also need to search the way how to keep the quality of vaccine. DHO and PHC used solar cell as electric source.
There are still a lot strategy are needed to improve in Papua, Indonesia. But, by 4 points above or small steps, hopefully the problem can be solved slowly.
Thank you, Daniel Asomaning for your input.
Good morning Mindo, your strategies seem to address most of the challenges in reducing undervaccinated and unvaccinated persons.
Your first strategy is highly important especially in areas where language barriers exist. It is important to consider the language spoken by staff by staff during recruitment and posting if that opportunity exist.
Also, the involvement of all stakeholders is very necessary for all programs including immunization. If such collaboration exist among all stakeholder,s ownership is fostered and it is likely to reduce the incidence of unvaccinated and undervaccinated..
However, in finding the unvaccinated children, the use of a comprehensive home-based records as indicated in your first strategy can be used to traced for unreached when the registration is appropriately done.
Thank You