MCSP/Malawi FY2015 Quarterly Report

The project objectives included improving the capacity of managers and service providers at all levels and strengthening routine immunization by improving planning, monitoring, vaccine, and cold chain management. During the first quarter of FY2015, MCSP supported the training of EPI supervisors in effective supportive supervision, known as Regular Appraisal of Program Implementation in District (RAPID). The training took place in Kasungu from November 17-20, 2014, and was facilitated by Dr. Manish Jain and other zonal and national EPI officers. A total of 40 participants from all 29 districts were trained, but expressed challenges related to funding and equipment costs. MCSP also revised the Health Surveillance Assistants (HSA) immunization training curriculum, which had not been updated since 2009. The revised curriculum included new vaccines such as Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and Rotavirus vaccine, as well as strategies like Reaching Every District (RED)/Reaching Every Child (REC). The revised curriculum will be used for HSA training beginning in January 2015. The MCSP Immunization Officer participated in the WHO-organized Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) monitoring and causality assessment training in Malawi on December 15-21, 2014. The training covered methods of investigation and establishment of causal relationships, and MCSP accepted an invitation to join the national investigations team. USAID/Malawi conducted a Data Quality Assessment (DQA) exercise on December 10, 2014, which focused on indicator 3.1.6-61 "Number of children who received DPT3 by 12 months of age in USG-assisted programs." The DQA findings showed that the reported data was valid, reliable, timely, precise, and of good integrity, but noted concerns regarding the state of M&E systems for EPI at the service delivery level. MCSP faced several challenges during the quarter, including delays in the IPV vaccine and GAVI introductory grant, which delayed several planned activities related to new vaccine introductions. MCSP also reduced some program costs from the budget during the second revision of the PY 1 work plan, which resulted in the postponement of the Immunization In Practice (IIP) training. Despite these challenges, MCSP made significant progress in the first quarter of FY2015, including the successful training of EPI supervisors in RAPID and the revision of the HSA immunization training curriculum. MCSP also participated in the AEFI monitoring and causality assessment training and conducted a DQA exercise.