Muscat – The Ministry of Health will conduct National Immunisation Coverage Survey of children aged 18 months to five years and mothers of children younger than five years across all governorates starting February 20. The survey will run till March 19.

It aims to validate the results of routine reports and provide information on the number of people who have been adequately immunised.

It also aims to guide executive policies by presenting best practices, highlighting challenges that require intervention to improve the effectiveness of the national immunisation programme, and identify the reasons for any delay in taking vaccinations at scheduled appointments, besides reasons for reluctance to get vaccinated

The survey targets 5,289 home visits to obtain immunisation data of at least 16,470 individuals of the target groups, and verify if mothers – who have children under the age of five years – were vaccinated during pregnancy.

Field survey teams will visit randomly selected houses in various wilayats across the country. Surveyors will first ask if there are individuals of target groups in the house. If there are any, verbal consent will be obtained to conduct the survey.

The immunisation data of the target groups will be obtained directly from mothers or the child’s caregiver. Survey teams will use an electronic or paper questionnaire form prepared in advance to collect the relevant data.

Survey teams will use immunisation cards (pink for children and green for mothers) for documentation. Physical presence of the child is not required during the survey. Unvaccinated children will be referred to the nearest health institution.

No vaccination, medicine dispensation or sample collection will be performed during the survey.