article · BMC Pediatrics
A community-based study in Minjar-Shenkora district, Ethiopia, evaluated childhood vaccination rates and the factors influencing completion among children aged 12 to 23 months. Surveying 566 mothers and caregivers, the investigation found that 75.6 percent of children were fully vaccinated, falling below the governmental target of 90 percent. Frequent reasons reported for missing vaccinations included incorrect appointment dates, previous episodes of illness following vaccination, and disrespectful behaviour from healthcare staff. Incomplete immunisation was significantly associated with mothers being unmarried, households not participating in the local health development army, and having to walk more than two hours to reach a health facility. Addressing these gaps requires expanding community health networks and establishing more local vaccination sites to reduce walking distances for families.
Vaccines prevent severe childhood illnesses, but coverage targets remain unmet in many rural settings. Pinpointing why children miss doses helps public health authorities design effective solutions. The study identifies practical barriers, including excessive walking distances, scheduling confusion, and negative experiences with clinic staff, showing where health systems can direct resources to improve routine immunisation uptake.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway or commercial product, as it focuses on public health epidemiology. The operational findings could nonetheless guide public health administrators, non-governmental organisations, and digital health developers aiming to design appointment-tracking tools, staff training initiatives, or expanded rural delivery networks. These applications represent system-level health planning rather than market-ready commercial technologies.
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BACKGROUND: Childhood vaccinations have been shown to be effective in protecting children against vaccine-preventable diseases. The systematic investigation of the causes of incomplete immunization is critical for the full immunization and develop health system interventions to improve immunization coverage. To date, no community-based immunization coverage assessment study was conducted in Minjar-shenkora district. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the immunization coverage and its factors among 12-23 months old children in Minjar-shenkora district, Ethiopia. METHODS: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2017. A total of 566 children aged 12-23 months and their mothers/caregivers were successfully interviewed using structured and pre-tested questionnaire. A stratified sampling technique was employed. Study participants were selected systematically. Data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported into SPSS version 21 for analysis. Logistic regression analyses were done. A significant association was declared at a p-value less than 0.05. RESULTS: Three fourth (75.6%) of 12-23 months old children were fully vaccinated. Incorrect appointment date (46.4%), the experience of child sickness with previous vaccination (35.2%) and disrespectful behavior of health professionals (14.3%) were the most common reasons cited by mothers/caregivers for incomplete vaccination of children. Being unmarried (AOR = 3.52, CI = 2.61, 9.15), not being a member of health development army (AOR = 3.31, CI = 2.01, 11.65) and traveling time greater than two hours on foot (AOR = 2.46, CI = 5.01, 17.18) were predictors of incomplete immunization. CONCLUSIONS: Child immunization coverage was still below the governmental plan of 90% in 2020. Being unmarried, not being a member of health development army and traveling time greater than two hours on foot were predictors of incomplete immunization. Strengthen health development army programmatic interventions in the community will improve child vaccination completion in the district. The issue of long travel time should be addressed by increasing the number of new vaccination sites/clusters in the district.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12887-019-1575-7
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