Improving EPI reporting with DHIS2 in Togo

Previously in Togo, the EPI team was using DVD-MT to manage immunization data in a parallel system outside of the national HMIS, which limited access to EPI data to a small, centralized team. With the support of Gavi, Togo implemented the DHIS2 immunization package and data quality tool. The transition to the DHIS2 platform involved a series of workshops and trainings to build capacity, as well as the decentralization of data entry and analysis down to the facility level. The results of this change were small improvements in EPI data reporting rates–from 99.1% completeness in 2018 to 99.3% in 2019–and large improvements in reporting timelines–from only 38.2% of reports submitted on time in 2019 to 83% in 2019.

The EPI data are also regularly viewed: the PEV-Routine dashboard is the third-most viewed dashboard in Togo’s entire DHIS2 system thus far in 2020. Because these data are now available to a wider audience, they are seen as a “common good,” and the WHO dashboard has inspired additional custom dashboards for further analysis and triangulation, such as a dashboard showing EPI stock that has already been configured and a dashboard triangulating immunization, stock data, and outreach performance that is in development. This dashboard has an emphasis on identifying areas with higher incidence of unvaccinated children to facilitate more targeted immunization programming.