ReliefWeb

Executive summary

Objectives Substantial progress has been made in improving immunisation coverage for at least the routine vaccines across the world.

The proportion of the world’s children who receive recommended vaccines, in other words, global vaccination coverage , has remained steady for the past few years . It is estimated that immunisation currently averts at least two to three million deaths every year. However , it is also clear that in some parts of the world, immunisation coverage rates are stagnating or, even worse, declining.

An estimated 21.8 million infants worldwide in 2013 were not covered with routine immunisation services, of whom nearly half live in three countries: India, Nigeria and Pakistan .

The global community and national governments continue to look for novel ways to improve access to and utilisation of immunisation services to reduce vaccine - preventable deaths.

There is an increasing realisation that communities need to be more than just passive recipients of immunisation services; they need to play a more prominent role and their involvement in planning and delivery of services can improve demand and potentially affect the quality of services.

In order to most effectively reach the last mile, health services and their community partners must make special efforts through strong community links to improve access and increase uptake .

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and led by 3ie, this scoping paper has three main objectives :

1. map the landscape of evidence that shows what works and what doesn’t in engaging communities to reverse stagnation and decline in immunisation;

2. draw on evidence from a range of sources and summarise what is already known about community engagement approaches to immunisation; and

3. identify innovative community engagement approaches to increase immunisation coverage