Determinants of immunisation of children under 2 years of age in Rural Barak Valley: An explorative study

Abstract

In 1978, India launched the "Expanded Programme on Immunisation" (EPI) to minimise the prevalence of "Vaccine-Preventable Diseases" (VPDs). Despite years of health and medical progress, children in India continue to suffer from VPDs, and significant disparities in immunisation coverage may be seen among regions, states, socioeconomic groups, and other factors. Barak Valley's socioeconomic and environmental characteristics reveal an overall underdevelopment pattern. Furthermore, in the valley, healthcare services such as comprehensive immunisation institutional delivery are underutilised, resulting in poor immunisation coverage. Despite this evidence, there have been limited studies to identify the factors that influence child immunisation. In this context, this article is a modest attempt to identify and quantify the inequality in socio-economic factors in explaining inequality in Child immunisation in rural Barak Valley. A multistage stratified random sampling was used to collect information on immunisation and related variables by using a pre-tested questionnaire from the universe of children aged between 12-23 months of rural Barak Valley. And, binary logistic regression model has been used to analyse the data and draw inferences. The immunisation coverage is the Barak Valley region is very poor. The highest immunisation coverage has been observed for the BCG vaccine, around 90%. And with 64% coverage, vaccination against measles stands at the bottom of the list. The extent of full immunisation in the valley is not satisfactory at all. Around 54% of children aged 12-23 months have received all the WHO recommended vaccines, implying half of the eligible children are left out. The study identifies religion, a strong cultural affiliation that significantly influences the immunisation coverage of the child. Furthermore, the gender of the child, unequal access to ante-natal care, and birth order of the child are the prime factors associated with inequality in child immunisation in the region.