Breaking barriers to immunization through service delivery strategies

About

This case study explores the gender-responsive strategies implemented by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in the Greater Accra region of Ghana designed to overcome key gender barriers that limit caregivers’ access to health services and reduce immunization uptake in urban and peri-urban settings.

Despite Ghana’s high overall vaccination rates, disparities in urban areas arise due to caregivers’ time constraints, limited autonomy, and financial challenges. To address this, the EPI introduced a number of adaptive strategies, including market and weekend clinics, container clinics, home visits, and school-based immunization to reduce time and physical barriers to healthcare for caregivers. These approaches, supported by community engagement, especially leveraging the influence of female community leaders, involving men as supportive partners in immunization efforts, and enhancing healthcare workers’ capabilities through targeted training and support, are implemented to improve accessibility and overcome gender-specific barriers to more equitable vaccination coverage.

The study offers insights into the effectiveness, challenges, and key takeaways from these approaches, while also pointing to ways to further enhance these strategies for more significant gender-transformative change in immunization coverage and equity.