This issue of The Double Loop follows the story of one Movement for Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA202) leader, Franck Monga, District medical officer in Kenya Health District, Lubumbashi, DRC.
Since becoming a TGLF Scholar in 2018, Franck Monga has introduced multiple ideas shared by peers in the Movement for IA2030 activities organized by the Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF). He was chosen by his peers to lead TGLF’s national network in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This network, created in July 2019, now supports national-level peer learning in the DRC and provides a highly valued link between immunization staff and national immunization leaders to progress toward the goals of IA2030.
This is the second in a series of three cases following exceptional Movement for IA2030 leaders: last week’s issue highlighted the experiences of Wasnam Faye from Senegal.
Your experience and insights help other members of the Movement for IA2030. Click on the link at the end of each section to share:
If you are a donor, partner, or researcher interested in these insights, we encourage you to share your thoughts or write directly to Ian Steed, Insights Unit Editor.
What are the challenges you have faced where the support you were getting from your organisation was not enough? What have you learned from colleagues in immunization in other countries? How did they support you? What worked - or did not work?
[CLICK HERE TO SHARE YOUR STORY](https://tglf.typeform.com/to/HQsrzMOY#topic=My+experience+of+connecting+with+immunization+colleagues+in+other+contexts.+What+was+the+context?+Who+was+the+colleague?+How+did+they+help+you?+What+was+the+result?)
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“I have been a TGLF Scholar since 2018, when I took part in the WHO Scholar Level 1 certificate course in data improvement planning. I have since participated in many TGLF activities, and I have benefited so much from the peer-learning approach that, since July 2019, I have facilitated a national network within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) so we can continue to exchange experiences and learn from one another. Since the launch of the Movement for Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030), this country-wide network is focused on achieving the goals of IA2030.
“I trained as a medical doctor and then as a public health doctor. I was appointed medical director of a hospital in 2015. One of the things I was able to do was to change the immunization service from a feebased service to a free service, by convincing the providers of the importance of giving every child the chance to benefit from this service. Charging money for immunization creates a barrier, and our hospital received vaccines and other inputs for free. Besides, I reminded them that free provision was a country directive..”
“Also at that time, the district medical officer invited me to be a supervisor during supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) against polio and measles, as well as campaigns for vitamin A supplementation.”
”All of these got me more interested in immunization. In 2018, I was introduced to TGLF by a Scholar colleague who found that I was really interested in immunization and shared a link with me to apply for the course on data improvement planning organized by TGLF and WHO. I applied and was accepted. During the course, I almost gave up because internet connectivity was often a challenge, but I was encouraged and supported by Scholar Accompanists, alumni who had volunteered to support the new cohort, and I was eventually able to complete the programme.”
“At this time, I was already District Medical Officer (DMO) in one of the zones in Lubumbashi, the second largest city in the DRC, and since June 2022, I was again appointed DMO in the downtown area of Lubumbashi by the Minister of Health.”
“What I learned about data quality is still helping me, three years later, in my current role. One of the major challenges we face is our denominator – the size of the population to be vaccinated. We use a population extrapolation approach, each year multiplying the estimated current population by 1.03. But we know this is not accurate, particularly because we see a lot of migration from rural areas into the city. In some areas, we obtain coverage figures of well over 100%, in part because of these arrivals.”