Quick Links #10: Use of mobile health teams for integrated approaches to polio vaccination

Below you'll find a brief list of just some of the polio communication resources related to mobile health teams from The Communication Initiative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Hi Everyone

This Quick Links focuses on mobile health teams (MHTs) in relation to: their impact on health delivery in conflict-affected areas, experiences integrating polio mobilisation staff with MHTs, potential for delivering integrated services, issues of cost and sustainability, and their usefulness as short- to-medium term ways to bridge gaps in health infrastructure while improving access to basic health services.

Illustrations of how MHTs have been deployed in two contexts may be useful. In Afghanistan, bans on house-to-house campaigns have created an urgent need to find other approaches that are acceptable to anti-government elements (AGE) and local communities and have the potential to improve population immunity.  One approach being discussed is the utilisation of MHTs that deliver a range of health services, including oral polio vaccine (OPV).  In Pakistan, the context is different, but the need to consider closer collaboration between routine immunisation (RI) outreach, polio eradication campaigns, and social mobilisation is a critical element of success.

Use of Dedicated Mobile Teams and Polio Volunteer Community Mobilizers to Increase Access to Zero-Dose Oral Poliovirus Vaccine and Routine Childhood Immunizations in Settlements at High Risk for Polio Transmission in Northern Nigeria

This article looks at how dedicated mobile teams and polio volunteer community mobilisers (VCMs) have worked together to improve not only polio immunisation but also RI and other primary health care (PHC) services in underserved communities at high risk for polio transmission.  It concludes that "the range of services beyond poliovirus vaccination provided using polio resources reinforces the integration and strengthening of PHC as a sustainable delivery mechanism for RI and other related PHC services....The VCM structure needs to be considered for scale-up as part of PHC approach in hard-to-reach communities..."

Integrating Nutrition Services into Mobile Health Teams: Bringing Comprehensive Services to an Underserved Population in Afghanistan

This report examines a pilot collaboration between UNICEF and the Agency for Assistance and Development of Afghanistan (AADA), which used MHTs to provide basic health services including immunisation in remote/hard-to-reach communities in Faryab province.  The pilot reported significant increases in children receiving pentavalent and measles vaccine, as well as other basic health services.  The study identified a number of challenges to mobile service provision in this context, including high costs, impediments to physical access to certain pockets of the population, and supply chain issues.  It concluded that “despite these limitations, MHTs can be a useful way of providing critical services in the immediate term while the capacity of the existing system is built up to achieve a more sustainable model of accessible healthcare."

Mobile Outreach Health Services for Mothers and Children in Conflict-affected and Remote Areas: A Population-based Study from Afghanistan 

This paper looks at the impact of sustained, scheduled MHT services on antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), and childhood immunisation in conflict-affected and remote regions of Afghanistan.  It concludes that MHT services increase ANC, PNC, and childhood immunisation and can operate successfully in conflict-affected environments.  It notes that MHT services do not seem to increase health centre referral for delivery or use of clinics.  The authors argue that utilising MHTs is often perceived as expensive but is cost effective when measured against children’s lives saved.

A few other links from previous Quick Links that may be of interest:

Community Engagement and Integrated Health and Polio Immunisation Campaigns in Conflict-Affected Areas of Pakistan: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

Lessons Learnt from Implementing Community Engagement Interventions in Mobile Hard-to-Reach (HTR) Projects in Nigeria, 2014-2015

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Quick Links archive on the Polio and Immunisation Network

For more information see:

CI Polio Network

GPEI Resources

UNICEFs Rhizome C4D site

Cheers

Chris

A note on Quick Links: 

Quick Links is a small experiment from The Communication Initiative that might help those working for polio eradication in Pakistan and Afghanistan identify useful knowledge on issues the programme is facing.  It is designed to be brief and not add too much to anyone's inbox.  Each email focuses on an area of particular importance to the Pakistan and Afghanistan programmes and presents brief descriptions of three resources that may be of interest or use to those of you working in the country.  The mailing list, by design, is quite small though anyone who's interested can send a request to cmorry@comminit.com and they'll be added to the list.  We also welcome suggestions and requests for specific topics to be covered and/or resources to be identified.