Vaccine-preventable illnesses continue to contribute significantly to high child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Senegal’s public health goals include maintaining high coverage rates for children vaccinations and eliminating associated societal disparities. The goal was to look at the factors that influence childhood vaccination, such as sociodemographic characteristics and past vaccine-related decisions. The data are from the 2016 Senegalese Demographic and Health Survey, a nationally representative household survey of women aged 15–49 with a questionnaire concentrating on health and reproductive concerns, including the health of their children. Researchers limited the study to children aged 12–23 months. They investigated the determinants of several childhood vaccinations, including sociodemographic factors and previous shots, using bivariate and multivariate analyses. They discovered two major sociodemographic predictors of childhood vaccination in Senegal: the mother’s education level, which was strongly and positively correlated with every vaccination except the BCG vaccination, and the region of residence, with higher vaccination coverage rates in the Centre and West of Senegal. Furthermore, past shots were highly predictive of upcoming shoots.
The beneficial influence of mother’s education on child vaccination demonstrates the broad advantages of educating females, although regional variation in immunization rates necessitates more study to better understand. Previous injections are most likely a proxy variable for unobservable characteristics highly linked with vaccines, but they may also have their own unique influence on subsequent doses.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2019.1649553
