| 1. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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Epidemiology of measles cases, vaccine effectiveness, and performance towards measles elimination in The Gambia
- 2021
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 16:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction In 2011, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Regional Office (AFRO) resolved to eliminate Measles by 2020. Our study aims to assess The Gambia's progress towards the set AFRO measles elimination target and highlight surveillance and immunisation gaps to better inform future measles prevention strategies. Material and methods A retrospective review of measles surveillance data for the period 2011-2019, was extracted from The Gambia case-based measles surveillance database. WHO-UNICEF national coverage estimates were used for estimating national level MCV coverage. Measles post campaign coverage survey coverage estimates were used to estimate national measles campaign coverage. Results One hundred and twenty-five of the 863 reported suspected cases were laboratory confirmed as measles cases. More than half (53.6%) of the confirmed cases have unknown vaccination status, 24% of cases were vaccinated, 52.8% of cases occurred among males, and 72.8% cases were among urban residents. The incidence of measles cases per million population was lowest (0) in 2011-2012 and highest in 2015 and 2016 (31 and 23 respectively). The indicator for surveillance sensitivity was met in all years except in 2016 and 2019. Children aged 5-9 years (Incidence Rate Ratio-IRR = 0.6) and residents of Central River region (IRR = 0.21) had lower measles risk whilst unvaccinated (Adjusted IRR = 5.95) and those with unknown vaccination status (IRR 2.21) had higher measles risk. Vaccine effectiveness was 89.5%. Conclusion The Gambia's quest to attain measles elimination status by 2020 has registered significant success but it is unlikely that all target indicators will be met. Vaccination has been very effective in preventing cases. There is variation in measles risk by health region, and it will be important to take it into account when designing prevention and control strategies. The quality of case investigations should be improved to enhance the quality of surveillance for decision making.
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| 2. |
- King'oku, Pascal, et al.
(författare)
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A demo implementation of interactive internet of things
- 2020
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Ingår i: 16th Swedish National Computer Networking Workshop (SNCNW), Kristianstad (online), 2020. ; , s. 15-18
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Internet of Things facilitates interaction betweenhuman users and physical environment through the use ofelectronic sensors, wireless communication and cloudtechnology. In this paper, we demonstrate a scalableimplementation of Internet of Things in a lab environment. Aversatile set of sensors including cameras, power outlets andordinary temperature sensors are embedded in the physicalenvironment and connected to the cloud via local gateways. Datais processed locally and accessible via the cloud. A web servicehosted in the cloud enables remote two-way interaction betweenthe human users and the monitored physical environments.
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| 3. |
- King'oku, Pascal, et al.
(författare)
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A demo implementation of interactive internet of things
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Internet of Things facilitates interaction betweenhuman users and physical environment through the use ofelectronic sensors, wireless communication and cloudtechnology. In this paper, we demonstrate a scalableimplementation of Internet of Things in a lab environment. Aversatile set of sensors including cameras, power outlets andordinary temperature sensors are embedded in the physicalenvironment and connected to the cloud via local gateways. Datais processed locally and accessible via the cloud. A web servicehosted in the cloud enables remote two-way interaction betweenthe human users and the monitored physical environments.
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| 4. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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An assessment of the quality of vaccination data produced through smart paper technology in The Gambia
- 2020
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Ingår i: Vaccine. - : Elsevier. - 0264-410X .- 1873-2518. ; 38:42, s. 6618-6626
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: MyChild Solution is an innovative Electronic Immunisation Register (EIR) reliant on Smart Paper Technology, thereby eliminating the need for electronic devices and internet connectivity at the point-of-care. The goal of this study is to characterise the quality of routine immunisation data generated using MyChild Solution compared to data obtained through the conventional health management information system (HMIS) used in The Gambia.METHOD: We used the World Health Organization's (WHO) Data Quality Review (DQR) Toolkit to evaluate MyChild Solution's data quality in the 19 health facilities across two regions implementing MyChild Solution in The Gambia at the time of the evaluation. We evaluated all applicable data quality metrics as well as additional metrics of interest, including the incidence of recording errors, the incidence of incomplete indicator level data, and implausible dates. Where possible, we compared results to those of the conventional HMIS.RESULTS: Both MyChild Solution and the conventional HMIS produced 100% complete and timely data in their reference years. Both systems had no moderate or extreme outliers and showed the expected Penta 1 to Penta 3 dropout direction. However, the proportion of verification factors that are not acceptable was higher in the conventional HMIS. MyChild Solution was found to near perfectly (99.98%) digitise scanned documents. These and other data quality indicators evaluated demonstrate that MyChild Solution produces high quality data with high completeness, timeliness, and consistency compared to the conventional HMIS system.CONCLUSION: MyChild Solution produces high quality data as per the DQR Toolkit metrics and other metrics of interest of interest. The more internally consitent data produced through MyChild Solution compared to the conventional HMIS demonstrates its potential for supporting data-driven decision-making in immunisation.
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| 5. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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Disentangling the rural-urban immunization coverage disparity in The Gambia : A Fairlie decomposition
- 2019
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Ingår i: Vaccine. - : Elsevier. - 0264-410X .- 1873-2518. ; 37:23, s. 3088-3096
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Exploring factors underlying disparities in immunization uptake is highly relevant and can contribute to improved immunization interventions globally. The Gambia is an interesting case, since higher immunization coverage in rural areas has been shown for many years, yet the factors explaining this unexpected rural-urban disparity have not been studied. The aim of our study was to quantify the rural-urban disparity in immunization coverage and identify factors that contribute to explaining it.Methods: Data from the nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey 2013 was used to select children aged 12–23 months (Weighted n = 1644) for the study. The outcome measure was full immunization status, the grouping variable was area of residence. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the proportions of full immunization and rural-urban residence across the exposure variables. The Fairlie decomposition technique was used to decompose factors contributing to explaining the coverage disparity.Results: The findings show that there is a disparity of 16.06 percentage points to the advantage of the rural areas and the exposure variables explained 76.49% of the disparity. Material factors explained 92.03% of the explained disparity with maternal occupation and household wealth quintile being the only significant individual material variable contributors to the explained disparity. Lower household wealth quintile and working especially in agriculture were associated with higher immunization coverage and they were more common in rural areas. Religion and mother’s age group e each contributed somewhat to the explained inequality.Conclusions: There was a large immunization coverage disparity between rural and urban areas in The Gambia. This disparity was mainly explained by mothers working in agriculture and living in the poorest households, being more likely to immunize their children – unexpected findings. Our study showed that the drivers of healthcare disparities differ by setting and deserve more research.
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| 6. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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Does a pay-for-performance health service model improve overall and rural–urban inequity in vaccination rates? : A difference-in-differences analysis from the Gambia
- 2022
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Ingår i: Vaccine: X. - : Elsevier. - 2590-1362. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To assess whether the implementation of a results-based financing (RBF) project in The Gambia resulted in (1) improved national vaccination coverage (2) higher coverage in intervention than non-intervention areas, and (3) improvement in rural–urban coverage inequality.Methods: The study used a difference-in-differences design, based on repeated cross-sectional data from The Gambian Demographic and Health Surveys 2013 (N = 1650) and 2020 (N = 1456). Full vaccination (receipt of one BCG, 3 OPV, 3 DTP, and 1 measles-containing vaccine doses) and rural–urban vaccination inequality were our outcome variables. The intervention, RBF, was implemented in 5 of the 7 health regions. Covariates controlled for included child’s sex, child’s birth order number, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, distance from health facility, maternal education, mother’s age group, mother’s marital status, and mother’s work status. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate whether coverage changed, and difference-in-differences and difference-in-differences-in-differences were used to ‘assess differences in vaccination coverage change and change in inequalities, respectively.Results: Total crude full vaccination coverage in The Gambia was 76% in 2013 and 84.6% in 2020. Overall vaccination significantly increased by 16% (95% CI: 9% to 24%) in 2020 compared to 2013, but with a smaller increase in intervention relative to non-intervention areas [PRR 0.88 (CI: 0.78–0.99)]. Rural-urban inequality in vaccination coverage decreased more – by 13% [0.87 (0.78–0.98)] – in RBF than non-RBF regions.Conclusion: Vaccination coverage improved over the study period though we have no evidence to ascribe the coverage gains to the RBF intervention. However, our study suggests that the RBF project has contributed to reducing rural–urban inequalities in the regions it was implemented.
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| 7. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of a performance monitoring intervention on the timeliness of Hepatitis B birth dose vaccination in the Gambia : a controlled interrupted time series analysis
- 2023
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2458. ; 23:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The Hepatitis B virus that can cause liver cancer is highly prevalent in the Gambia, with one in ten babies at risk of infection from their mothers. Timely hepatitis B birth dose administration to protect babies is very low in The Gambia. Our study assessed whether 1) a timeliness monitoring intervention resulted in hepatitis B birth dose timeliness improvements overall, and 2) the intervention impacted differentially among health facilities with different pre-intervention performances.Methods: We used a controlled interrupted time series design including 16 intervention health facilities and 13 matched controls monitored from February 2019 to December 2020. The intervention comprised a monthly hepatitis B timeliness performance indicator sent to health workers via SMS and subsequent performance plotting on a chart. Analysis was done on the total sample and stratified by pre-intervention performance trend.Results: Overall, birth dose timeliness improved in the intervention compared to control health facilities. This intervention impact was, however, dependent on pre-intervention health facility performance, with large impact among poorly performing facilities, and with uncertain moderate and weak impacts among moderately and strongly performing facilities, respectively.Conclusion: The implementation of a novel hepatitis B vaccination timeliness monitoring system in health facilities led to overall improvements in both immediate timeliness rate and trend, and was especially helpful in poorly performing health facilities. These findings highlight the overall effectiveness of the intervention in a low-income setting, and also its usefulness to aid facilities in greatest need of improvement.
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| 8. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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Missed opportunities for vaccination at point of care and their impact on coverage and urban–rural coverage inequity in the Gambia
- 2023
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Ingår i: Vaccine. - : Elsevier. - 0264-410X .- 1873-2518. ; 41:52, s. 7647-7654
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Identifying actionable targets is crucial to improve overall and equity in vaccination coverage, and in line with the global Immunization Agenda 2030. Therefore, this study seeks to assess the prevalence of missed opportunities for simultaneous vaccination (MOSVs) and their impact on vaccination coverage and urban-rural inequity in The Gambia.Methods: We used data of children aged 12-23 months from The Gambia 2019/2020 demographic and health survey (weighted n = 1355) with seen vaccination cards. We analyzed: the frequency of MOSVs; percentage point coverage reduction attributable to MOSVs for 18 vaccine doses and full basic vaccination; and MOSVs' contribution to urban-rural coverage inequity through Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition.Results: Sixty percent of children experienced MOSVs, in both urban and rural areas, but urban MOSVs were more seldom corrected (35.9 % vs 45.3 %). All eighteen vaccine doses assessed could have achieved between one to eleven percentage points higher coverage if MOSVs had been avoided, with full basic vaccination gaining even more. While MOSV correction did not impact overall urban-rural coverage inequity, it did exacerbate (explained coefficient = -0.1007; P = 0.002) inequities among children who experienced MOSVs, explaining 95 % of the observed difference.Conclusion: Our study highlights the prevalence and negative impact of MOSVs on overall vaccination coverage. Although MOSVs did not contribute significantly to the total urban-rural inequity in coverage, they have detrimental effects on vaccination coverage and urban-rural inequity among children who had experienced MOSVs. Addressing MOSVs, can enhance coverage and reduce the risk of under-vaccination, aligning with global initiatives.
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| 9. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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Starting then stopping: a nationwide register-based study on the magnitude, predictors, and urban-rural patterns of under-vaccination variation across health centers in The Gambia
- 2024
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Ingår i: Global Health Action. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1654-9716 .- 1654-9880. ; 17:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Six million children were under-vaccinated in 2022. Our study aimed to 1) quantify the magnitude of under-vaccination variation between health facilities, 2) assess to which extent individual and health center level factors contributed to the variation, 3) identify individual and health facility factors associated with under-vaccination, and 4), explore rural vs. urban health facility variations.Methods: We used data from 61,839 children from The Gambia national routine vaccination register. We cross tabulated under-vaccination status across study variables and fitted two-level random intercept multilevel logistic regression models to measure variance, contribution to the variance, and factors associated with the variance and under-vaccination.Results: We found that 7% of the prevalence of under-vaccination was due to variation between health facilities. Thirty-seven percent of the variation was explained by individual and health center variables. The variables explained 36% of the variance in urban and 19% in rural areas. Children who were not vaccinated at 4 months or with delayed history, due for vaccination in the rainy season, and health facilities with very small or large population to health worker ratios had higher under-vaccination odds.Conclusion: Our study indicates that one of the pathways to improving vaccination coverage is addressing factors driving under-vaccination inequities between health facilities through urban-rural differentiated strategies.
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| 10. |
- Sowe, Alieu, et al.
(författare)
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The frequency of missed opportunities for simultaneous vaccination and their impact on vaccination of children in The Gambia
- 2023
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Ingår i: Population Medicine. - : European Publishing. - 2654-1459. ; 5, s. 563-563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Objective: The number of zero-dose and under-vaccinated children has passed 20 million following the COVID-19 pandemic. Reducing missed opportunities for vaccination is recommended as a key strategy for increasing coverage because it involves utilising existing vaccination sites. To generate actionable evidence for coverage and equality improvement targeting, this study aimed to estimate the frequencies of missed opportunities for simultaneous vaccination (MOSVs) and their correction by residential area and assess the impact of MOSVs on full vaccination and coverage of vaccine doses in The Gambia.Methods: Data of children with cards aged 12–23 months from The Gambia 2019/2020 demographic and health survey was used (weighted n = 1355). We measured the number of children who experienced at least 1 MOSV any time before the survey and the proportions of children who later 1) received all doses, 2) received some doses, and 3) never received any dose by residence. Finally, valid coverage with and without MOSVs was estimated for all eligible vaccine doses.Results: More than half of the children surveyed experienced at least one MOSV, and more than half of the MOSVs were later corrected. A quarter of the children who experienced MOSVs did not have them corrected. Rural and urban residents had similar experiences in the proportion of MOSVs, but children in urban areas had their MOSVs not corrected more frequently. Seventeen of eighteen vaccine doses in the national schedule would have coverage gains without MOSVs, with some gaining as much as nine percentage points in coverage.Conclusions: Missed opportunities for simultaneous vaccination are frequent, negatively affecting coverage and differentially impacting rural and urban areas, and should be targeted for vaccination improvement. Our study emphasizes the importance of MOSVs for vaccination coverage and the need to implement the WHO missed opportunities for vaccination strategy.
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| 11. |
- Tesfaye, Brook, et al.
(författare)
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An epidemiological analysis of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance in Kenya, 2016 to 2018
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMC Infectious Diseases. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2334. ; 20:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The poliovirus has been targeted for eradication since 1988. Kenya reported its last case of indigenous Wild Poliovirus (WPV) in 1984 but suffered from an outbreak of circulating Vaccine-derived Poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in 2018. We aimed to describe Kenya's polio surveillance performance 2016-2018 using WHO recommended polio surveillance standards.Methods: Retrospective secondary data analysis was conducted using Kenyan AFP surveillance case-based database from 2016 to 2018. Analyses were carried out using Epi-Info statistical software (version 7) and mapping was done using Quantum Geographic Information System (GIS) (version 3.4.1).Results: Kenya reported 1706 cases of AFP from 2016 to 2018. None of the cases were confirmed as poliomyelitis. However, 23 (1.35%) were classified as polio compatible. Children under 5 years accounted for 1085 (63.6%) cases, 937 (55.0%) cases were boys, and 1503 (88.1%) cases had received three or more doses of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). AFP detection rate substantially increased over the years; however, the prolonged health workers strike in 2017 negatively affected key surveillance activities. The mean Non-Polio (NP-AFP) rate during the study period was 2.87/ 100,000 children under 15 years, and two adequate specimens were collected for 1512 (88.6%) AFP cases. Cumulatively, 31 (66.0%) counties surpassed target for both WHO recommended AFP quality indicators.Conclusions: The performance of Kenya's AFP surveillance system surpassed the minimum WHO recommended targets for both non-polio AFP rate and stool adequacy during the period studied. In order to strengthen the country's polio free status, health worker's awareness on AFP surveillance and active case search should be strengthened in least performing counties to improve case detection. Similar analyses should be done at the sub-county level to uncover underperformance that might have been hidden by county level analysis.
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| 12. |
- Tesfaye, Brook, et al.
(författare)
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The role of the Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) program in developing countries : the experience of Kenya
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2458. ; 20:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: In 1988, the 41st World Health Assembly (WHA) marked the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) for the eradication of polio. A key component of the GPEI has been the development and deployment of a skilled workforce to implement eradication activities. In 1989, the Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) was initiated to address skilled human resource gaps and strengthen poliovirus surveillance. This paper describes the role of the STOP 52 team in technical capacity building and health system strengthening in the implementation of polio eradication strategies in Kenya following the outbreak of Circulating Vaccine-derived Poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2).METHODS: Overview of the STOP program, deployment, and the modality of support are described. Descriptive analysis was conducted using data collected by the STOP 52 team during integrated supportive supervisory visits conducted from July 2018 to September 2019. Analyses were carried out using Epi-Info statistical software (Version 7.0) and maps were developed using Quantum Geographic Information System (Q-GIS) (version 3.12.0).RESULTS: The STOP 52 team supportively supervised 870 health facilities on Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), and Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) and other Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs) surveillance in 16 (34.1%) of the 47 counties during the study period. AFP surveillance was conducted in all health facilities supervised leading to the detection and investigation of 11 unreported AFP cases. The STOP 52 team, as part of the outbreak response, provided technical support to five successive rounds of polio Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) conducted during the study period. Moreover, in addressing programmatic data needs, the STOP 52 Data Manager played a valuable role in enhancing the quality and use of data for evidence-based planning and decision-making. The STOP 52 team contributed to the development of operational plans, guidelines and training manuals, and participated in the delivery of various Training of Trainers (TOT) and On-the-Job Training (OJT) on EPI, AFP and other VPDs surveillance including data management.CONCLUSION: The STOP 52 team has contributed to polio eradication efforts in Kenya by enhancing AFP and other VPDs surveillance, supporting polio SIAs, strengthening EPI, use of quality EPI, AFP and other VPDs data, and capacity building of Frontline Health Workers (FLWs). The use of Open Data Kit (ODK) technology during supportive supervision, and AFP and other VPDs surveillance was found to be advantageous. A national STOP program should be modeled to produce a homegrown workforce to ensure the availability of more sustainable technical support for polio eradication efforts in Kenya and possibly other polio-affected countries.
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