I am a Municipal Director of Health Services and an ardent advocate for health systems strengthening working Ghana Health Service and have strong passion for reaching the unreached with health services at regional and sub-regional level in the Atwima Nwabiagya municipality in the Ashanti region, Ghana. I would be working at innovations in improving urban immunization in Atwima areas of the Ashanti region.

List 3-5 innovative activities from your selected intervention

1. Implement specific strategies to Reach Every Child

a. Re-establish and increase outreach services: regular outreach for communities with poor access and or without health facilities

b. Supportive supervision: onsite training by supervisors

c. Community links with service delivery: regular meetings between community stakeholders and health staff

d. Monitoring and use of data for action: chart/tabulate data from DHIMS, map population in each CHPS zone to guide service deployment

e. Planning and management of resources: ensure prudent human and financial resources management

2. Micro-planning

This is to allow for mapping out operational areas by zones and reviewing all existing microplans including all hard-to-reach areas, slums, mobile population dwellings, resources, partners, communication planning and how to deal with waste management and other challenges. Pilot of the strategy will be carried to access its effectiveness, identify gaps in any and to provide means for cording all activities. The microplanning would also ensure mapping of human resources and planning for service points.

3. Manpower vacancies

Estimate ideal frontline and EPI officers needs against available manpower and conduct gap analysis of manpower using the Ghana Health Service staffing norms for all health facility types including urban and rural needs. Re-distribute and increase onsite staff by deploying staff in zones and sub-zones especially areas of need. Advocacy meetings and do risk communication for demand creation. Improve volunteers’ activism with community support so that they can help in community mobilization and engagement.

4. Awareness and demand generation for vaccination

Increase access to immunization services in rural areas while making available information regarding immunization in urban areas. Also will tract mobile population in the municipality, conduct daily vaccination in all health facilities with children contact and house-to-house in urban and densely populated areas. Open additional service points with the community members and providing information on vaccination days a day earlier to the scheduled dates, venue and time. Important to these is also to address promptly any concerns regarding vaccination among small groups and involving community influencers and volunteers. Client holding through strong provider-client relationship will also be strengthened.