Ayod County is still underserved with basic health care services. Among the 12 existing health facilities, EPI (Expanded Program on Immunization) activities are routinely carried out in only 2 of them due to the inaccessibility to the health facilities and the challenges in the preparation of micro-plan for each Payam tailored according to the resources available, the constrains (mainly logistic) and the gaps. The only available micro-plan is at State level; however, it only stipulates vaccine estimates, but not details of equipments or human resources. Therefore, EPI activities are perceived and thus planned as spot activities rather than static and continuous.
COSV has already started to undertake actions in order to respond to the critical nutritional status, immunization, maternal, new-born and child health challenges in the County to bridge the resource gaps that can affect the lives of many children that would otherwise remain out of access of the essential program of Immunization and nutrition care.
This projects aims at reducing mortality and morbidity rate among vulnerable women and children in Ayod County of Jonglei State through further implementation of an integrated maternal, new born and child health and nutrition services.
The activities considered in the project are: mapping all the catchment areas including hard to reach places and conducting an integrated maternal, new-born and child health household survey; support health facilities to develop tailored micro-plans for immunization sessions (both static and outreach) with the involvement of the Community Health Workers, the County Health Department and the Community Health Committees; strengthening and scale up of cold chain systems through provision of additional cold chain facilities based on the micro-plan developed (cold chain in case of health facilities, transportable commodities in case of mobile point of vaccination identified during the mapping).