Validation of the Immunization Data Reported under Health Management Information System by the Primary Health Centres of Rural Vadodara

Abstract

To study the immunization data reported by the primary health centre/sub-centre (PHC/SC) and validate them at the village level, and to also assess the quality of care during immunization.

A sample of 20 PHCs, 13 rural and 7 tribal, was selected using a stratified random sampling. For every PHC, two SCs and for every SC, one village were selected. Data on immunization were collected from the PHC/SC records and were validated by interviewing five beneficiaries from the village. The process evaluation of immunization session was done wherever possible to assess the quality of care. The district availability of vaccines was 77.0 per cent while the overall accessibility was 90 per cent. Following validation, the gap between reported and validated data was 15 per cent and 25 per cent of reported utilization and coverage, respectively. Process evaluation revealed that the process was followed correctly at 62 per cent as per the assessment score. Only a part of the gap could be accounted for by the reasons justified by the service providers. However, a substantial part of the gap may be chiefly due to over-reporting mainly to meet the dictated targets. Process evaluation revealed lacunae in safe injection practices.