UNSTRUCTURED
The Immunization Agenda 2030 strategy is guided by four core principles. People-centered: the strategy is tailored to the specific needs, breaking down barriers; Country-owned: progress is initiated locally, with countries setting context-specific targets; Partnership-based: partners coordinate efforts and involve sectors beyond immunization; Data-guided: high-quality data shapes decision-making at all levels.
Cameroon has a national vaccination programme, the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) to protect its population, especially children, against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). The programme includes key vaccines for polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and hepatitis B, and aims to improve access and utilization, particularly in remote areas. Challenges such as incomplete recording, inadequate infrastructures notably poor connectivity, data integrity issues (Inaccuracies, duplications, and reporting errors ), and capacity constraints might lead to poor data quality leading to missed opportunities.
Obviously, data play a crucial role in driving informed decision-making and effective implementation of immunization programmes. The present study, thus aims to evaluate the quality of vaccination data in the Yaoundé and Health districts, Centre region of Cameroon. The WHO data self-quality assessment (DSQ) tool will be used to assess especially the data timeliness, accuracy, and completeness as proceeded by the vaccination staff in 2023-2024. Vaccination staff practices will be observed, and a few policymakers will also be interviewed to gain insights into the effectiveness, coverage, and challenges of the vaccination programme in Cameroon. This study is expected to yield outcomes such as assessing the current state of EPI data quality, identifying factors influencing data quality, formulating recommendations to enhance data quality, preparing a comprehensive report, disseminating findings to stakeholders, contributing to existing literature, and ultimately enhancing vaccination data quality in the Centre region, Cameroon.