Immunization Coverage among the under-five children living in slums in Chattogram, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Children are susceptible to various infectious diseases and immunization can reduce the risk among the children by boosting their immune system. Immunization is one of the effective public health interventions which prevents a number of child mortality each year. In urban areas among educated parents, the effectiveness of immunization is known but the mothers living in slums are not as aware as them. Therefore, this study aims to improve the health condition of under-five children living in slums by determining immunization coverage, assessing mothers’ knowledge, and identifying significant factors related to immunization.

Methods:

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the selected three slums in Chattogram. Data was collected quantitatively by using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study was conducted after taking approval from ERC and verbal consent was taken from 323 research participants. Data analysis was done by using SPSS.

Results:

This study found that 79.9 % of children are fully immunized in these three urban slums. The partial-immunization and non-immunization rates are 18% and 2.2%. Around 68% of mothers have child’s vaccine card. The majority of the mothers have good knowledge on immunization and most of them suggested others vaccinate their children. Overall, mothers' knowledge, education level, monthly family income, the distance to the vaccine center, etc is determined as significant factors regarding child immunization. Conclusion: Focusing on both supply and demand side and ensuring mothers have proper knowledge on immunization, strengthening the health system building blocks, and assuring equity regarding access to healthcare services can significantly increase immunization coverage in the urban slums.