Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed the external monitoring of the measles and rubella vaccination of children in Syria, in partnership with Save the Children.
A trained QRCS team accompanied the vaccination staff across Idlib City and countryside to monitor the vaccination process and ensure compliance with international standards.
Conducted by Syria Immunisation Task Force, the 10-day campaign covered 286,966 children between six months and five years of age. It was available at 10 main centres and several more secondary and makeshift centres, at a total cost of $48,321.
As an external observer, QRCS contributed 42 supervisors to inspect the preparedness of the centres, validity of injections and vaccinations, performance of vaccinators, and safe delivery of vaccinations to children.
QRCS has a long experience in the monitoring of child vaccination campaigns. Its mission in Gaziantep, Turkey, had held several intensive training courses for more than 100 supervisor both at the mission’s premises and inside Syria, to improve their supervisory, planning, follow-up, and assessment skills.
QRCS has already monitored eight polio vaccination campaigns inside Syria, in co-operation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and other local and global humanitarian organisations.
These $10mn campaigns served millions of children in Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, and other Syrian governorates.
The process comprises three phases: (1) pre-campaign – over two days, the inspectors visit the main centres to make sure that the centres and equipment are well in place; (2) during campaign – over six days, QRCS supervisors examine vaccine samples, check storage conditions for inconveniences, and accompany vaccinator teams to assess their performance at health centres and households and take notes; and (3) post-campaign – over two days, the results are analysed for lessons learnt, to be considered in future campaigns.
Commenting on the programme, QRCS Secretary-General, Saleh bin Ali al-Mohannadi, stated, “Thank God, we have completed the monitoring of the campaign to immunise the Syrian children against measles and rubella, in an attempt to improve the living conditions of our Syrian brothers inside and outside of Syria, cater for their basic needs, and protect the next generation against physical impairment. Few oral vaccine drops can create a productive citizen who is capable of serving his or her homeland”. Al-Mohannadi emphasised QRCS’s keenness to continue its extensive efforts to uphold the medical sector in Syria.