Building an Efficient and Effective Vaccination Programme for Poliomyelitis Immunisation in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon

The North West Region of Cameroon including the Bamenda Health District has frequently been having upsurges of vaccine-preventable diseases. This motivated the research topic “Building an Efficient and Effective Vaccination Programme for Poliomyelitis Immunisation in the Bamenda Health District”. The main objective was to carry out an exhaustive audit of the Polio vaccination programme in the Bamenda Health District (BHD). A descriptive, cross-sectional, explorative and comparative design was used for the study in which multistage random sampling was carried out to obtain a sample size of 414 participants. Key findings revealed insufficient mobilisation of resources; lack of robust bottom-up micro-plans for the campaigns; ineffective advocacy and communication plans resulting to weak involvement of related sectors; poor organisation; limited capacity building for vaccinating personnel; obsolete and inadequate cold chain system in many health facilities. This justified the acceptance of the Null Hypothesis. With the current socio-political climate in the country aggravated by a dual warfare, the situation would definitely worsen despite the efforts of external donors and funding agencies. As a recommendation, every public health stakeholder and the government should redouble their efforts to right the flaws and lapses, both in vaccinations, health promotion, disease surveillance, and epidemic preparedness. The Cameroon government should revamp the health sector as well as create an enabling environment for efficient and effective vaccination campaigns.