Table 2 Experiential knowledge being generated within the context of a novel immunisation campaign

The campaign initially focused on primary healthcare facilities and crèches but, on reviewing the statistics for the first two months, they realised that the yield here was far below the targets set. They suspected that, given the informal and oft times erratic nature of crèches in poorer areas, their list was incomplete so the task team decided to seek out other community sites to access children for vaccination. In April they decided to set up an immunisation station at local shopping mall, anticipating that mothers and their children would be found their after the pay-out of social grants or wages. While well-frequented, the space they were given in the mall was not in the public eye. They tried to ‘market their product’ by having community volunteers wearing orange bibs wander through the mall to advertise the campaign. The management of the mall objected to this so they then put up posters on boards in the foyer but found that even on a good day they would only get about 25 children to immunise. They tried various strategies such as going into shops and identifying children potentially in the right age but none were very successful. In their May meeting they decided to return to the communities with particularly low coverage and drive through the streets with a loudhailer. They found that many children in the target age group were at home with their mothers. The social grant pay-out queues and the community-based soup kitchens are also good to target. In their June meeting they discussed the importance of remaining flexible and trying different strategies in quick succession to find one that worked. From their experience they also learnt to anticipate that the venue of crèches and community soup kitchens would change over time, and to anticipate this next time they planned an outreach activity. They were surprised to find teenage mothers still in their pyjamas at 10 am in the morning and considered the implications of this for targeting other priority services such as family planning for under 18 year olds.