[Performance of the Strategy to Catch Up with Drop Out and Unvaccinated Children in Côte d'Ivoire in 2018]

To improve the performance of Côte-d'Ivoire's immunization program, we have implemented a strategy to catch up with drop out children (DOC) and unvaccinated children (UVC) in 14 Health Districts (HDs) with the lowest measles vaccination coverage. This article presents the effectiveness and cost of this strategy. We selected the areas with the highest numbers of DOC: 5 health areas (HAs) per HD and 5 villages/neighborhoods per HA. The strategy, which was implemented by civil society organizations, health centre managers (HCMs) and community health workers (CHWs), combined sensitization of community leaders and groups, home visits (HV) and referral of children to the HCs for immunization. Out of the 17,912 reported DOC, 9,425 found (52.6%) and 8,245 were vaccinated (46% of declared, 87.5% of found). The HCMs reported 484 UVC while the home visits identified 1,315 of which 1,087 were vaccinated (82.7%). Out of a total declared number of 18,396 children to be caught up, 10,740 found (58.4%) and 9,332 vaccinated, i.e. 50.8% (9,332/18,396) of children to be caught up and 86.9% (9,332/10,740) of children found. The total specific recurrent cost of the strategy was XOF 22,375,008, with XOF 2,083 (22,375,008/10,740) per child found and XOF 2,398 (22,375,009/9,332) per child found and vaccinated. In view of these results, this strategy should be implemented in all of the country's low-performing HDs.