Evaluation report
Increasing childhood vaccination coverage of the refugee and migrant population in Greece through the European programme PHILOS, April 2017 to April 2018
Kassiani Μellou, Chrysovalantis Silvestros, Eirini Saranti Papasaranti, A Koustenis, Ioanna D. Pavlopoulou et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001The PHILOS programme coordinated childhood vaccination services for refugee and migrant children in Greece from April 2017 to April 2018, administering over 57,000 vaccinations across six diseases. Vaccination coverage varied significantly by vaccine type, with MMR coverage above 80% for the first dose but dropping to 45% for the second dose, while other vaccines showed coverage below 50% for first doses. The programme improved coordination and monitoring compared to the previous fragmented NGO-led approach, but substantial gaps remained in achieving complete vaccination protection for refugee children.
Key points
- 57,615 vaccinations were administered over one year across six vaccine types (MMR, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, poliomyelitis, pneumococcal, Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B)
- MMR first-dose coverage exceeded 80%, but second-dose coverage was only 45%
- Coverage for other vaccines was below 50% for first doses and below 25% for second doses in children aged 0-4 years
- The programme extended vaccination services to refugee children in community settings and unaccompanied minors at safe zones for the first time
- PHILOS improved planning and monitoring compared to the previous heterogeneous NGO-led approach, but further efforts are needed to increase coverage
Limitations
The document does not provide detailed information about the specific barriers to achieving higher vaccination coverage or comparative effectiveness data from the pre-PHILOS period. It is unclear whether coverage rates reflect incomplete vaccination schedules, lost documentation, or genuine gaps in service delivery.
Abstract
After the 2016 Balkan route border closures, vaccination of refugee children in Greece was mainly performed by non-governmental organisations. Activities varied between camps, resulting in heterogeneity of vaccination coverage (VC). In April 2017, the European programme ‘PHILOS - Emergency health response to refugee crisis’ took over vaccination coordination. Interventions were planned for the first time for refugee children in the community and unaccompanied minors at safe zones. From April 2017–April 2018, 57,615 vaccinations were performed against measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) (21,031), diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (7,341), poliomyelitis (7,652), pneumococcal disease (5,938), Haemophilus influenzae type b (7,179) and hepatitis B (8,474). In April 2018, the vaccination status of children at camps (reception and identification centres and community facilities such as hostels/hotels were excluded) was recorded and VC for each disease, stratified by dose, nationality and camp size, was calculated. More than 80% of the children received the first MMR dose, with VC dropping to 45% for the second dose. For all other vaccines, VC was < 50% for the first dose in children aged 0–4 years and < 25% for the second dose. Despite challenges, PHILOS improved planning and monitoring of vaccination activities; however, further efforts towards improving VC in refugee children are needed.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- The PHILOS programme coordinated and expanded childhood vaccination services, including organized vaccination activities in camps, community facilities, and safe zones for unaccompanied minors, with improved planning and monitoring systems
- Population
- Refugee and migrant children in Greece, including those in reception and identification centres and unaccompanied minors
Key finding
MMR first-dose coverage reached 80%, but second-dose coverage was only 45%