Vaccination coverage is the proportion of children in the Region receiving the recommended vaccines. In recent years, coverage with the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine (DTP3), the tracer vaccine, has remained around under 90% in the last 5 years. In 2020, approximately 85% of children aged under one year in the Region (approximately 12.4 million children) received 3 doses of the DTP3 vaccine, protecting them against infectious diseases that can cause serious illnesses and disabilities or be fatal.
Based on the work that countries with PAHO’s support have done, as well as existing data quality and data use frameworks, we have developed this process model. Governance and sustainability are the foundation with three main pillars – human resources, processes, and tools – which support the data cycle: data needs, data collection, data availability, analysis and interpretation, and finally the data use for decision-making. Each stage of the cycle is crossed by the quality and aims to increase the body of knowledge regarding what works for increasing data quality and data use, and why they work.
Monitoring data at the subnational level is critical to helping countries prioritize and adapt vaccination strategies and operational plans, to address vaccination gaps and reach all people with life-saving vaccines.