Public Health Immunisation Programme Management for EPI Coordinators Training Course

Course overview

EPI coordinators are held accountable for high, equitable vaccination coverage while managing incomplete population denominators, stock constraints, cold-chain failures, weak reporting timeliness, and missed communities. This course addresses the operational decisions behind programme performance: where to place outreach sessions, how to distinguish access problems from utilisation problems, how to investigate dropout, and how to turn routine data into corrective action. Participants work with the indicators, planning cycles, supervisory routines and coordination mechanisms needed to manage an immunisation programme at district, regional or national level.

The course covers EPI programme architecture, Reaching Every District/Community approaches, target-population estimation, microplanning, coverage and dropout analysis, zero-dose identification, vaccine forecasting, cold-chain capacity, data quality assessment, supportive supervision, AEFI surveillance, and campaign integration. Participants learn to build an evidence-based immunisation workplan, calculate and interpret key performance indicators, reconcile doses administered against stock and reports, prioritise underperforming facilities, and present an escalation-ready action plan to senior health leaders and partners.

Instruction combines expert-led technical sessions with realistic EPI datasets, facility and district case studies, planning workshops, and peer review. By the end of the week, each participant leaves with a practical EPI Performance Improvement Pack: a coverage dashboard, equity-prioritisation map or matrix, microplan template, vaccine and cold-chain action log, supportive supervision checklist, and 90-day improvement plan tailored to their service area.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Calculate administrative coverage, dropout, wastage and stock-out indicators from EPI reporting data
• Construct a district immunisation microplan using target populations, session plans, catchment areas and outreach routes
• Identify zero-dose and under-immunised populations through disaggregated coverage, defaulter and community data
• Apply the Reaching Every District/Community approach to prioritise low-performing facilities and corrective actions
• Develop a vaccine forecast and distribution plan using consumption, target population, buffer-stock and wastage assumptions
• Assess cold-chain capacity and document corrective actions using Effective Vaccine Management criteria
• Conduct a routine immunisation data quality review using source-document verification and data consistency checks
• Produce a 90-day EPI performance improvement plan with indicators, owners, deadlines and escalation triggers

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• EPI Coordinators — who lead routine immunisation performance, planning and partner coordination
• District Immunisation Officers — who must improve coverage, outreach delivery and reporting across facilities
• Regional or Provincial EPI Managers — who supervise district performance and allocate technical support
• Ministry of Health Immunisation Programme Officers — who translate policy, guidance and targets into operational plans
• Cold-Chain and Vaccine Logistics Officers — who link vaccine availability, storage capacity and distribution to session delivery
• WHO, UNICEF and NGO Immunisation Advisors — who support government-led microplanning, monitoring and recovery actions

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in routine immunisation, district health management, vaccine logistics, surveillance or health programme monitoring. The course assumes familiarity with the basic EPI schedule used in the participant’s setting, facility monthly reporting, administrative coverage calculations, and spreadsheet use for sorting, filtering and simple formulas. Participants should bring an understanding of their local reporting pathway and, where permitted, anonymised coverage or stock data. Prior experience with DHIS2, OpenLMIS or formal epidemiology training is helpful but not required. This is not a clinical vaccination technique course and does not teach injection practice.

Training methodology

The programme is delivered through instructor-led briefings, guided calculations, small-group district planning labs and facilitated reviews of realistic EPI performance scenarios. Participants work with sample DHIS2-style reporting extracts, stock records, temperature-monitoring logs and supervision findings to diagnose programme bottlenecks. Teams develop and challenge microplans for low-coverage areas, then practise presenting priorities to a simulated district review meeting. Daily outputs feed into an individual 90-day improvement plan, which receives instructor and peer feedback on the final day.

Course outline

Day 1: EPI programme performance and equity diagnosis

• EPI programme functions, governance and accountability lines
• Routine immunisation service-delivery models and session strategies
• Administrative coverage numerator and denominator analysis
• Antigen-specific dropout calculation and interpretation
• Zero-dose and under-immunised child identification
• Reaching Every District and Reaching Every Community principles
• Equity disaggregation by geography, facility, sex and settlement type

Workshop: Participants analyse a district coverage dataset and produce a ranked problem statement identifying priority facilities, antigens and population groups.

Day 2: Microplanning and service-delivery optimisation

• Target-population estimation using census, births and local registration data
• Facility catchment-area mapping and population validation
• Fixed, outreach and mobile session planning
• Community engagement and defaulter-tracing workflows
• Human-resource, transport and per diem assumptions in microplans
• Session-site selection for remote and missed communities
• Quarterly workplan costing and operational sequencing

Workshop: Participants build a facility-level microplan with target populations, session calendars, outreach routes, staffing assignments and resource assumptions.

Day 3: Vaccine, cold-chain and logistics management

• Vaccine demand forecasting using target population and consumption methods
• Wastage-rate assumptions and multi-dose vial policy implications
• Minimum and maximum stock levels with buffer-stock calculations
• Stock reconciliation between issue vouchers, balances and doses administered
• Cold-chain capacity assessment and equipment utilisation
• Temperature monitoring, excursion response and vaccine viability decisions
• Distribution scheduling and last-mile delivery risk controls

Workshop: Participants prepare a vaccine forecast and cold-chain corrective-action log for a district facing stock-outs, excess wastage and refrigerator capacity gaps.

Day 4: Data quality, supervision and safety monitoring

• Routine immunisation data-flow mapping from facility to national level
• Data quality review methods and source-document verification
• Consistency checks across tally sheets, registers, reports and stock records
• DHIS2-style dashboard interpretation and exception analysis
• Supportive supervision planning and observation checklists
• AEFI detection, notification, investigation and feedback pathways
• Corrective-action tracking and performance review meeting design

Workshop: Participants conduct a simulated data quality and supportive supervision review, producing a facility feedback report with evidence, actions and follow-up dates.

Day 5: Performance recovery and EPI leadership action planning

• Root-cause analysis using problem trees and five-whys questioning
• Prioritisation matrices for coverage, equity, supply and data risks
• EPI performance dashboard design and indicator thresholds
• Partner coordination roles, meeting agendas and decision logs
• Risk communication for missed communities and vaccine confidence concerns
• Integration of routine immunisation with campaigns and child health days
• Ninety-day performance improvement planning and escalation protocols

Workshop: Participants present a 90-day EPI Performance Improvement Pack containing their dashboard, priority actions, ownership matrix and escalation plan.

Tools & standards covered

DHIS2, OpenLMIS, WHO Effective Vaccine Management (EVM), WHO Reaching Every District (RED) strategy

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions