Improving routine immunization data quality using daily short message system reporting platform: An experience from...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Routine immunization (RI) in Nigeria faces challenges due to persistently low coverage rates, contrasting with high administrative data, indicating significant data quality issues.
• A critical gap exists in timely monitoring of RI service delivery, hindering effective public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and impact of a short message system (SMS) text reporting strategy for generating daily routine immunization (RI) data from health facilities (HFs).
• To evaluate whether daily data collection improves the completeness, reliability, and internal consistency of RI data.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study was conducted in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Nasarawa state, Nigeria, from December 2017 to April 2018.
• 145 healthcare workers from 55 HFs were trained to send daily vaccination data via SMS using mobile phones.
• Data analysis focused on completeness, weekly session reporting, and internal consistency checks.

Main Results:

• The SMS reporting system achieved 85% data reception from participating HFs.
• Average weekly reported sessions were lower than expected (33 fixed-post, 8 outreach), with higher reporting on Tuesdays.
• Internal consistency checks revealed instances where reported vaccinations exceeded available vaccine doses, observed across all antigens and session types.

Conclusions:

• Transmitting RI data via SMS is a feasible method for improving real-time performance monitoring at the health facility level.
• The system provides valuable insights into RI service delivery, despite initial data discrepancies that require further investigation and refinement.