IA2030 Case study 6. Zainab Ferrah Conteh. View from the frontline: Strenghtening the immunization programme backbone

This case study is part of a series shining a light on the experiences of immunization and primary healthcare staff working at different levels of national immunization programmes in low- and middle-income countries. The people featured are all taking part in the peer learning programme organized by the Geneva Learning Foundation (LinkedIn | YouTube | Twitter | Podcast). In settings with under-developed health systems, a focus on the core infrastructure of immunization – particularly people, data and logistics – remains a high priority. “I work for the Ministry of Health as a monitoring and evaluation officer, and I’ve been doing this for about 10 years now. My background is in statistics and I am now doing a master’s in public health, with a health informatics bias. I work at the district level, in Bombali district in northern Sierra Leone, which covers a population of around 480,000 people. The urban area of Makeni and surrounding rural areas have a population of about 130,000 inhabitants. Like other parts of Sierra Leone, we experience high levels of infant mortality, maternal mortality and child morbidity. Our immunization coverage is moderate – it could be better. As much of the population lives in urban areas, we probably have a bit of an advantage over other districts and have slightly better health outcomes.” This Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) case study is part of the IA2030 Movement’s Knowledge-to-Action Hub. Learn more about the Hub… Learn more about the Movemen