Table 1 Source of information and collected indicators, by independent variable.

Occurrence of epidemics

- Interviews with key informants

- Month and year;

- Disease

Occurrence of immunization campaigns/days

- Interviews with key informants

- Month and year;

- Antigen

Immunization strategies

- Interviews with key informants (DMO, person in charge of the EPI program, manager, etc.);

- % of health centers ensuring daily immunization services in fixed and outreach strategies;

- Supervision reports and EPI report

- % of PHCs with strategies for finding drop-outs;

- % of PHCs ensuring the management of open flasks;

- Involvement of other actors in immunization activities (NGOs, associations, social mobilization) and the nature of their involvement

Profile of DMO and relationship with his team

- Interviews with DMO and key informants, manager

- Composition of the DO team (number, skills, turnover);

- Action plan; inventory reports; supervision reports;

- Financial capacities of the DO (source and amount per year);

- Reports from Ministry of Health

- Rate of supervisory activities integrated with report;

- Length of DMO term of office;

- Rate of recurrence of meetings of the DMO with the DO staff and with PHCs' chief nurses;

- Rate of printing of DO newsletter;

- Relation of the district action plan to the micro-plans of PHCs

Financial and technical partners

- Interviews with DMO or key informants, person in charge of EPI, manager

- Number of financial and technical partners in the district;

- DO reports and action plan

- Extent of financial and in-kind aid;

- EPI activities benefiting from partners' support;

- Period of intervention

Geographic access (in km)

- Interview with DMO and key informants, person in charge of EPI,

- Number of PHCs;

- District health statistics service

- Mean number of km to access the closest PHC;

- DO reports and action plans

- % of population covered (served) in fixed strategy;

- % of population served by enhanced outreach strategy

Incidence of PHCs meeting staffing standards

- Archives of the regional and district medical offices, action plans, and inventory reports

- % of PHCs meeting staffing standards;

- Interviews with DMO and key informants

- % of PHCs with running COGES (management committees);

- % of COGES that balance their budgets;

- Degree/extent of participation of COGES in activity planning, follow-up and evaluation;

- Nature and level of financing of EPI activities by the COGES (i.e., district's autonomy in funding its EPI activities)

Vaccine supplies, cold chain functionality

- Interviews with DMO and key informants, person in charge of EPI, manager, PHC's chief nurse

- Yearly budget for immunization (as for action plan, COGES and others);

- DO reports and action plans

- Number of PHCs with functional motorbike;

- Level/extent of equipment for cold chain;

- Number of PHCs having experienced failures in vaccine supplies, cold chain, or means of transport and communication (month/year, length and nature of the event, number of PHCs affected)