Reaching Special Populations: Reaching Every Child

Oluwaseun Akinyemi, MD, MPH, FWACP, FRSPH, PhD College of Medicine, University of Ibadan & University College Hospital, Nigeria

Dr. Akinyemi describes the following scenario:

“Some people have described urban slums as people who suffer in the midst of plenty. For example, in Pakistan, the urban population rose from an estimated 43 million in 1988 to 73 million in 2014.

Civil dispensary delivers health services to slums. Community-based polio vaccinators come to these facilities to review field books containing housing maps and vaccination records. And as you can see in the picture, polio vaccinators make a list of unvaccinated children for follow-up. And in turn, they also refer individuals to the health facilities to receive other routine vaccines and services.”

Consider the best practices discussed throughout this lecture, as well as concepts covered in the Microplanning lecture, and reflect on the following:

• What are some challenges in trying to reach every last child in such a population?
• What best practices could help in this scenario?
• Where would integrating services in this scenario be particularly important?

In the discussion forum, describe at least one strategy you might apply to the scenario in Pakistan. Then read other learners’ posts, and respond to atleast one post with a question to clarify their scenario.