Immunisation coverage in urban areas of Belgaum city - A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Immunization forms the major focus of child survival programmes throughout the world. Children of urban poor have high vulnerability to illnesses as outbreak of vaccine preventable diseases are more common in urban slums, owing to high population density and migratory population. Aims & Objectives: To assess the immunization coverage and various socio-demographic factors affecting the same in urban areas of Belgaum. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at 2 Urban Health Centre’s, Ashoknagar and Ramnagar of Belgaum. The study population comprised of children aged 0-6 years. The subjects selected were registered children in nearby anganwadi’s. 20 children were randomly selected from each anganwadi under the UHC .The data was collected regarding the immunization status of the child and other factors associated with it. Results: 79.5% of children were completely immunised and 20.5% were partially immunised. The most common reasons for not immunising the child were: mother was too busy (34.1%), family problem, including illness of the mother (31.7%), unaware of return for 2nd and 3rd dose. Significant association was found between educational status of mother and socioeconomic status of family with immunization status of children. Conclusion: In this study, overall coverage of immunization is good, but still, it has pockets of non-immunization. So, there is an urgent need to review the current strategies of immunization.