--- Two on Factors Affecting Vaccination Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa and in India

Sunday, 14th of October 2012

• TWO ON FACTORS AFFECTING VACCINATION COVERAGE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND IN INDIA

‘Contrary to expectation, we found children from urban areas were more likely to be unimmunised than those from rural areas . . .

‘The few currently available systematic reviews relevant to childhood immunisation programmes in sub-Saharan Africa show that parent reminder and recall systems [32] and mass media interventions [33] have the potential to increase immunisation coverage. Verbal, video, or provider-delivered communication tools may also increase parents’ understanding, especially if the tools are structured, tailored and interactive [34]. In addition, interventions to promote interaction between the community and health services may build trust and generate awareness and understanding of vaccination issues among parents.’

The reader of research findings from Malawi, Burkina Faso and Kenya will discover in each case dozens of published citations from district field research areas, in, respectively, Karonga, Ouagadougou, and Kilifi. In each case, national and international partners have set up reporting systems which permit monitoring of epidemiological trends over years, even decades. Readers of this homepage will remember an earlier write-up from Kilifi, at http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/04/27/ije.dys062.full?etoc

and, from Ouagadougou, a tantalizing excerpt at  http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/06/08/ije.dys090.extract?sid=4740d376-1835-4114-80f9-cbcf4eb2d172

Here is a write-up from Malawi.

KEY MESSAGES

Karonga HDSS is a health and demographic surveillance system of 35 000 individuals based on a validated and cost-effective community reporting structure.

Karonga HDSS was designed as a platform for epidemiological and clinical studies using well-established identification procedures enabling linkage to health and socio-economic data and archived biological specimens. Our capacity to re-identify individuals and to link children with both parents facilitates longitudinal investigations of individuals and families, spanning decades, including genetic relationships.

Current research areas include HIV, TB and other infectious diseases, and behavioural studies related to transmission, although in response to changing health priorities in Malawi, future plans include diversification to non-communicable diseases (e.g. hypertension and diabetes).

First published online: June 22, 2012