Midterm evaluation of core group polio project in Ethiopia

The USAID funded, CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) in Ethiopia was launched in 2001 to increase polio immunization coverage among children under the age of five years in 55 hard to reach pastoralist and border areas. A midterm evaluation study was designed to assess how well the project has met its objectives. The aim of the evaluation was to compare the different between baseline and midterm evaluation of immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months old in selected districts/woredas of core group project areas and the participants to understand the level of knowledge and attitudes of mothers/caretakers on polio and AFP surveillance and barriers regarding polio immunization in the project areas. The study used a 30 cluster survey methodology complemented by qualitative data obtained through focus groups and in-depth interviews. The finding of the survey indicated that the percentage of children who ever had a vaccination card significantly increased from 75.1% to 83.3%. OPV0, OPV2, and OPV3 coverage, though still very low, showed a significant increase (p<.001). The coverage of fully vaccinated children by card plus recall was 63%, whereas the percentage of non-vaccinated children was 15%. The coverage of BCG was 80.6%, OPV0 40%, OPV1 84.2%, OPV2 82.2%, OPV3 73.4%, pentavalent1 83.1%, pentavalent2 80.7%, pentavalent3 73.1%, and measles was 67.7%. Overall, the findings highlighted several barriers to routine immunization and polio vaccination: Distant health facility, transportation problem, shortages of health workers at health facilities, lack of awareness about the benefits of vaccination, mothers' high workload and vaccine stock-outs.