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INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE IN TIRANA, ALBANIAVaccination of hard-to-reach population in TiranadistrictIria Preza 1 , Erida Nelaj 1 , Silva Bino 11Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania.Aim: During the last decades, the migration withinthe country has become a common phenomenonin Albania. Tirana, the major district in Albania, hasthe highest percentage of new comers from otherregions of the countryand, consequently, the highestnumber of children aged 0-14 years. Identificationof these children, keeping track and continuation ofthe vaccination schedule, is considered one of thechallenges of the health sector, especially for thehealth workers dealing with vaccination in thisdistrict. The main aim of this study was to identify,register and vaccinate children belonging to thehard-to-reach population subgroup.Methods: Screening door-to-door and analysis ofall immunization activities related to hard-to-reachpopulation.Results: Through the door-to-door screeningprocess, it was possible to identify and check around589 children 0-14 years old, of whom 219 (37%)were not registered. From a close monitoring andsupervision of the screening process, it was foundthat 169 (76%) of these unregistered children didnot have a regular vaccination schedule.Conclusion: A well-planned strategy based onstandardized procedures of transferring thevaccination data, demographic and social conditionsas well as local needs is the key to the success. It isimportant to define the capacity of the vaccinationhealth workers, borders and the monitoring processthroughout the study. Door-to-door screeningcombined with follow-up and with interactivecommunication and collaboration between healthworkers and parents can help to identify, register andvaccinate more new children as well as keeping trackof the registered ones.Keywords: hard-to-reach population, Tirana, vaccination.ALBANIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT61