On Friday, November 1, 2024, the Countdown to 2030 Uganda Country Collaboration team, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Health’s Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization (UNEPI) and Makerere University School of Public Health, held a hybrid immunization evidence dissemination meeting. The session was titled “Using Routine Health Facility Data to Monitor National and Sub-national Level Coverage of Immunization in Uganda.”

Held in the Ministry of Health’s Polio boardroom in Kampala, this half-day event was a follow-up to the immunization analytic workshop in Abidjan in August 2024, building on the success of a September webinar that attracted strong participation from various sectors.

The meeting focused on improving the use of routine health facility data for tracking immunization coverage at national and sub-national levels, while strengthening partnerships with key stakeholders in the health sector. 

The meeting had four key objectives:

1. Presenting findings on immunization coverage trends at national and sub-national levels, including methodologies used;
2. Identifying gaps and challenges in routine immunization reporting;
3. Facilitating dialogue on improving data quality to meet immunization targets;
4. Sharing best practices for enhancing reporting systems and reducing inequalities.

Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Health, UNEPI, UNICEF, CHAI, AFENET, Living Goods, and USAID. UNEPI’s delegation was led by the Commissioner of Health Services, the EPI Program Manager, and Monitoring & Evaluation personnel.

Key action points from the meeting:

• The UNEPI team invited the Countdown to 2030 Uganda Country Collaboration team to participate in UNEPI’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, scheduled for later this month, November 2024.
• A request was made to train district biostatisticians on the methodologies used for monitoring immunization and other key health indicators collected routinely, with plans for the training to take place in 2025.
• UNICEF expressed interest in having the Countdown team share these findings with their broader team for further dissemination.