Nigeria CDC/Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme 2^nd Annual Scientific Conference (Abuja, 2017)

Socio-economic inequality of childhood routine immunization coverage in Nigeria: analysis of 2003 - 2013 Nigeria demographic and health survey data

Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2018:8(97).13 Apr 2018.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2018.8.97.678

Archived on: 13 Apr 2018

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Keywords: Inequality, concentration index, immunization, Nigeria

Opening ceremony

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Socio-economic inequality of childhood routine immunization coverage in Nigeria: analysis of 2003 - 2013 Nigeria demographic and health survey data

Bola Biiaminu Lawal^1,&, Lawal Ahmadu², Abdulhakeem Olorukooba², Tukur Dahiru², Olatayo Olawepo³

¹Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Abuja, Nigeria, ²Department of Community Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, ³Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Nigeria

^&Corresponding author
Bola Biiaminu Lawal, Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: immunization coverage for Nigeria is still below the 90% target set in the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Nigeria is one of the 3 countries that host about 50% of the world’s infants without the third dose of Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT-3) vaccination. Ensuring that routine immunization is equitably extended to all children irrespective of their socio-economic status is a key component of GVAP. We compared the socio-economic inequality of childhood routine immunization coverage in Nigeria from 2003 - 2013.

Methods: we analyzed data from Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey for 2003, 2008 and 2013 for inequalities of DPT-3 coverage.We used concentration index (CI) to measure socio-economic inequalities at national and sub-national (geopolitical zones) levels. F-statistic was used to test for statistically significant difference in CI across groups at p < 0.05. Data was analysed using Stata 13 software.

Results: the CI for DPT-3 coverage in Nigeria was 0.398 in 2003, 0.528 in 2008 and 0.591 in 2013 (p < 0.001). At the sub-national level, in 2003, 2008 and 2013 respectively, the CI were: 0.425, 0.358 and 0.479 (p = 0.105) in North-Central; 0.148, 0.164 and 0.303 (p < 0.001) in North-East; 0.108, 0.161 and 0.275 (p < 0.001) in North-West; 0.681, 0.326 and 0.226 (p < 0.001) in South-East; 0.427, 0.445 and 0.244 (p = 0.407) in South-South; 0.295, 0.351 and 0.380 (p = 0.325) in South-West.

Conclusion: there was an increase in socio-economic inequality of DPT-3 coverage in Nigeria from 2003 - 2013 in favor of those with higher socio-economic status. At the sub-national level, only the North-Eastern and North-Western zones showed an increase in socio-economic inequality of DPT-3 coverage from 2003 - 2013 in favour of those with higher socio-economic status. We recommend that targeted interventions should be introduced to reduce the inequality of immunization coverage in Nigeria particularly in the North-Eastern and North-Western zones of the country.