After about two years of supporting the Yobe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (YSCHMA) to conduct a client satisfaction survey and an outcome assessment of the Yobe State Contributory Health Scheme, DGI Consult has been engaged by the Agency to conduct an outcome assessment of UNICEF intervention in two zero-dose LGAs in Yobe State.

Through the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), YSCHMA has enrolled 10,000 vulnerable pregnant women, under-5 children, and other indigent groups into the contributory healthcare scheme to access free healthcare services in two priority zero-dose local government areas (Gulani and Geidam). This support aims to improve access to health care and increase immunization uptake in the two LGAs. The outcome assessment seeks to measure the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the intervention, its impact in improving access to health care by the target population, and its effectiveness in reducing zero-dose children in the two LGAs.

The assessment is being conducted using mixed methods comprising qualitative and quantitative methods. The assessment comprises two components – a case-control study and a process assessment. The case-control study is a household-based immunization coverage survey of 840 children aged 0-23 months in the two intervention LGAs (Gulani and Geidam) and two control LGAs (Damaturu and Gujba). On the other hand, the process assessment aims to scrutinize the intervention’s processes, and measure its efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact on the beneficiaries and the community’s health-seeking behaviour. It is being conducted through desk review of relevant project documents and health facility records, and key informant interviews with representatives of YSCHMA, officers-in-charge (OICs) of selected intervention health facilities and community leaders. Focus group discussions are also being conducted with project beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in the intervention LGAs.

The assessment findings will inform recommendations for improving the intervention and expanding it to other LGAs. It will also provide evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention, which can be used to engage other donors to invest in procuring health insurance for poor and vulnerable populations.