The immunization programme in Bangladesh: impressive gains in coverage, but gaps remain

BCG immunization age in urban and rural areas of Akita Prefecture, Japan

BCG immunization, utilizing whole-body coordination, is a highly cost-effective means of health intervention for preventing miliary tuberculosis (TB) and TB meningitis. In this study, we investigated the appropriate age by which a child should have completed his or her BCG immunization and discuss the current BCG immunization rate in Akita Prefecture, Japan. BCG immunization rates in urban and rural areas were 90.1% and 80.7%, respectively. Our immunization data were lower than the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended rate. Immunization coverage rates in urban settings were higher than those in rural areas among infants four months to fifteen months of age, except for those six months old. We recommend: (1) completing BCG immunization by the age of twelve months, (2) preparing and educating parents for BCG immunization by means of a health policy, and (3) changing BCG immunization methods from group to individual inoculation. Immunization coverage rates may be increased or maintained to prevent miliary TB and TB meningitis.

Measles supplemental immunization activities improve measles vaccine coverage and equity: Evidence from Kenya, 2002

OBJECTIVES

To compare the measles vaccine coverage achieved through the routine vaccination program with that achieved during the 2002 supplemental immunization activity (SIA) at the national and provincial level, the percentage of previously unvaccinated children (zero-dose children) reached during the SIA, and the equity of measles vaccine coverage among children aged 9-23 months in Kenya.

METHODS

Using data from a post-SIA coverage survey conducted in Kenya, we compute routine and SIA measles vaccine coverage and the percent of zero-dose children vaccinated during the SIA at the national and provincial level. Nationwide and for each province, we use the concentration index (CI) to measure equity of measles vaccine coverage.

RESULTS

The SIA improved both coverage and equity, achieving significantly higher coverage in all provinces with routine measles vaccination coverage less than 80%, reached a large percentage of zero-dose children in these provinces, and reached more children belonging to the poorest households.

CONCLUSION

Overall, by improving both measles vaccine coverage and equity in Kenya, the 2002 SIA reduced the gap in immunity between rich and poor households. Measles SIAs provide an ideal platform for delivering other life-saving child health interventions.

Methodology for optimising location of new primary health care facilities in rural communities: a case study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To develop a quantitative methodology to optimally site new primary health care facilities so as to achieve the maximum population level increase in accessibility to care. The study aims to test the methodology in a rural community characterised by considerable heterogeneity in population distribution and health care access.

DESIGN

A geographical information system was used to estimate travel time to the nearest primary health care facility for each of the 26 000 homesteads in the subdistrict. The homestead's travel time estimate was then converted into an impedance to care estimate using distance decay (in clinic use) data obtained from the subdistrict. A map of total person impedance/km(2) was then produced using a 3 km standard Gaussian filter. The resulting map was used to site a test clinic in the largest contiguous area of high person impedance.

SETTING

Hlabisa health subdistrict, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

MAIN RESULTS

The population level increase in accessibility that would be achieved by the construction of the test clinic would be 3.6 times the increase in accessibility achieved by the construction of the newest clinic in the subdistrict. The corresponding ratio for increasing clinic coverage (% of the population within 60 minutes of care) would be 4.7.

CONCLUSIONS

The methodology successfully identifies a locality for a new facility that would maximise the population level increase in accessibility to care. The same principles used in this research could also be applied in other settings. The methodology is of practical value in health research and practice and provides a framework for optimising location of new primary health care facilities.

Impact of conflict on infant immunisation coverage in Afghanistan: a countrywide study 2000-2003

BACKGROUND

Infant immunisation is an effective public health intervention to reduce the morbidity and mortality of vaccine preventable diseases. However, some developing countries fail to achieve desirable vaccination coverage; Afghanistan is one such country. The present study was performed to evaluate the progress and variation in infant immunisation coverage by district and region in Afghanistan and to assess the impact of conflict and resource availability on immunisation coverage.

RESULTS

This study analysed reports of infant immunisation from 331 districts across 7 regions of Afghanistan between 2000 and 2003. Geographic information system (GIS) analysis was used to visualise the distribution of immunisation coverage in districts and to identify geographic inequalities in the process of improvement of infant immunisation coverage. The number of districts reporting immunisation coverage increased substantially during the four years of the study. Progress in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunisation coverage was observed in all 7 regions, although satisfactory coverage of 80% remained unequally distributed. Progress in the third dose of Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus (DPT3) immunisation differed among regions, in addition to the unequal distribution of immunisation coverage in 2000. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated a significant negative association between lack of security in the region and achievement of 80% coverage of immunisation regardless of available resources for immunisation, while resource availability showed no relation to immunisation coverage.

CONCLUSION

Although progress was observed in all 7 regions, geographic inequalities in these improvements remain a cause for concern. The results of the present study indicated that security within a country is an important factor for affecting the delivery of immunisation services.

Can expanding access to basic healthcare improve children's health status? Lessons from Indonesia's ‘midwife in the village’ programme

In the 1990s, the Indonesian government placed over 50,000 midwives in communities throughout the country. We examine how this expansion in health services affected children's height-for-age. To address the problem that midwives were not randomly allocated to communities, the estimation exploits the biology of childhood growth, the timing of the introduction of midwives to communities, and rich longitudinal data. The evidence indicates that the nutritional status of children fully exposed to a midwife during early childhood is significantly better than that of their peers of the same age and cohort in communities without a midwife. The former are also better off than children assessed at the same age from the same communities but who were born before the midwife arrived. Within communities, the improvement in nutritional status across cohorts is greater where midwives were introduced than where they were not. This result is robust to the inclusion of community fixed effects.

Determinants of childhood vaccination coverage in Kazakhstan in a period of societal change: Implications for vaccination policies

After the fall of the Soviet Union countries in Central Asia have undergone large changes. In Kazakhstan the vaccination coverage decreased between 1990 and 1995, which resulted in an increased incidence of some vaccine-preventable diseases, e.g. diphtheria and measles. In this study we examined which factors affected the vaccination status of children in Kazakhstan and whether they resemble patterns observed in developing or developed countries. We found a mixed pattern of risk factors, consistent with the status of Kazakhstan as a transitional economy. Especially prominent was the relatively high education of the women and good access to the medical care system.

Validating Neonatal Mortality and Use of NGO Reproductive Health Outreach Services in Rural Bangladesh

Although the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in Bangladesh remained steady between 1995-99 and 1999-2003 (41-42 deaths per 1,000 live births), evidence from the management information system (MIS) of a large nongovernmental organization (NGO) program indicates that the NMR declined by about 50 percent between 1996 and 2002 in the area served. This study aims to validate the recording of neonatal deaths among the cohort of children registered as born in 2003 and to assess the evidence of a decline in the NMR. It also measures the coverage of reproductive health outreach services, focusing on 12 of the 27 NGOs that have provided services in the same areas since 1996. Field-workers' registers, verbal autopsy reports, and immunization records were checked to confirm infants' survival. Interviews were conducted with 142 mothers of children who died within 28 days postpartum and with a random sample of 109 women with registered stillbirths. Out of 11,253 registered live births in 2003, 210 neonatal deaths were found, compared with 194 deaths that were reported in the MIS for 2003. The corrected NMR was 19 deaths per 1,000 live births, and it was in the range of 15-29 deaths per 1,000 live births in 11 of the NGO areas. Because underreporting of neonatal deaths was probably higher in 1996 when the MIS-reported NMR was 39 deaths per 1,000 live births, the decline in the NMR is likely to have been genuine.

Modelling and understanding primary health care accessibility and utilization in rural South Africa: an exploration using a geographical information system

Physical access to health care affects a large array of health outcomes, yet meaningfully estimating physical access remains elusive in many developing country contexts where conventional geographical techniques are often not appropriate. We interviewed (and geographically positioned) 23,000 homesteads regarding clinic usage in the Hlabisa health sub-district, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We used a cost analysis within a geographical information system to estimate mean travel time (at any given location) to clinic and to derive the clinic catchments. The model takes into account the proportion of people likely to be using public transport (as a function of estimated walking time to clinic), the quality and distribution of the road network and natural barriers, and was calibrated using reported travel times. We used the model to investigate differences in rural, urban and peri-urban usage of clinics by homesteads in the study area and to quantify the effect of physical access to clinic on usage. We were able to predict the reported clinic used with an accuracy of 91%. The median travel time to nearest clinic is 81 min and 65% of homesteads travel 1h or more to attend the nearest clinic. There was a significant logistic decline in usage with increasing travel time (p < 0.0001). The adjusted odds of a homestead within 30 min of a clinic making use of the clinics were 10 times (adjusted OR = 10; 95 CI 6.9-14.4) those of a homestead in the 90-120 min zone. The adjusted odds of usage of the clinics by urban homesteads were approximately 20/30 times smaller than those of their rural/peri-urban counterparts, respectively, after controlling for systematic differences in travel time to clinic. The estimated median travel time to the district hospital is 170 min. The methodology constitutes a framework for modelling physical access to clinics in many developing country settings.

The Taiwan National Health Insurance program and full infant immunization coverage

OBJECTIVES

We compared hospital-born infants and well-baby care use associated with complete immunizations in Taiwan before and after institution of National Health Insurance (NHI).

METHODS

We used logistic regression to analyze data from 1989 and 1996 National Maternal and Infant Health Surveys of 1398 and 3185 1-year-old infants, respectively.

RESULTS

Infants born in hospitals were found to receive fewer immunizations than those born elsewhere before NHI but significantly more after NHI. Use of well-baby care correlates strongly and positively with the probability that a child will receive a full course of immunization after NHI.

CONCLUSIONS

The NHI policy of including hospitals as immunization providers facilitates access to immunization services for children born in those facilities. Through NHI provision of free well-baby care, health planners have stimulated the demand for immunization.