Abstract:
Immunisation remains one of the most important and cost-effective interventions to reduce vaccinepreventable
child morbidity, disability and mortality. Health programmes like the Expanded Program of Immunization
rely on complex decision-making and strong local level evidence is important to effectively and efficiently utilise
limited resources. Lack of data use for decision-making at each level of the health system remains the main challenge
in most developing countries. While there is much evidence on data quality and how to improve it, there is a lack of
sufficient evidence on why the use of data for decision-making at each level of the health system is low. Herein, we
describe a comprehensive implementation science study that will be conducted to identify organisational, technical
and individual level factors affecting local data use at each level of the Ethiopian health system.
Methods: We will apply a mixed methods approach using key informant interviews and document reviews. The
qualitative data will be gathered through key informant interviews using a semi-structured guide with open- and
closed-ended questions with four categories of respondents, namely decision-makers, data producers, data users and
community representatives at the federal, regional, zonal, woreda and community levels of the health system. The
document review will be conducted on selected reports and feedback documented at different levels of the health
system. Data will be collected from July 2017 to March 2018. Descriptive statistics will be analysed for the quantitative
study using SPSS version 20 software and thematic content analysis will be performed for the qualitative part using
NVivo software.
Discussion: Appropriate and timely use of health and health-related information for decision-making is an essential
element in the process of transforming the health sector. The findings of the study will inform stakeholders at different
levels on the institutionalisation of evidence-based practice in immunisation programmes.
