The report which was revealed recently says that overall, 75 percent of children have received all basic vaccinations. However basic vaccination coverage has remained virtually the same since the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and House Survey (TDHS).
Ninety-six percent of children have received BCG, 97 percent have received the first dose of pentavalent vaccine and 97 percent have received polio 1.
The report says eighty-nine percent and 83 percent of children have received the third dose of the and polio vaccines, respectively. Coverage of vaccination against measles is 86 percent. Two percent of children in Tanzania have not received any vaccinations, the same percentage as in the
2010 TDHS.
Basic vaccination coverage does not differ substantially by the sex of the child. However, some differences between urban and rural residence are marked.
Larger differences are observed at the zonal level; the percentage of children with all basic vaccination coverage ranges from a high of 83 percent in Central, Southern Highlands, and Eastern zones to a low in Southwest Highland zone (67 percent) and Western zone (66 percent), the report says.
Historically, in Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), a child was considered to have received all basic vaccinations if he or she had received a BCG vaccination against tuberculosis; three doses of DPT vaccine to prevent diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus; at least three doses of polio vaccine; and one dose of measles vaccine.
These vaccinations were to be received during the first year of life.
DHS is a nationally-representative household surveys that provide data for a wide range of monitoring and impact evaluation indicators in the areas of population, health, and nutrition.
In April 2009, the Hib vaccine was introduced in Tanzania in the DPT-HepB-Hib (pentavalent) vaccine formulation against Haemophilus influenza type B and hepatitis B.
The pentavalent vaccine combines diphtheria, tetanus, whole-cell pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b (DTwP-HepB-Hib) vaccines to prevent all five diseases.
According to estimates annually across the world, diphtheria accounts for an average of 2,500 deaths, pertussis for 89,000 deaths and tetanus for 72,600 deaths among children aged under- five years.
In January 2013, the report says a new vaccination requirement was adopted in Tanzania: three doses of oral polio vaccine, three doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13), three doses of pentavalent vaccine (DTP-HepB-Hib), two doses of rotavirus vaccine, and measles vaccine.
While Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is a vaccine used to protect infants, young children, and adults against disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumonia rotavirus vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections.
These viruses are the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children.
For effective provision of vaccines, Tanzania has established a schedule for the administration of all basic childhood vaccines.
According to the schedule, BCG should be given shortly after birth. Polio vaccine should be given at birth and at approximately age six, 10, and 14 weeks. BCG is an effective immunization against tuberculosis. BCG stands for Bacille Calmette Guerin.
Pentavalent vaccine should also be given at approximately age six, 1ten, and 14 weeks. PCV-13 should be given at approximately age 6, 10, and 14 weeks.
Pentavalent vaccine protects against five major infections in one shot: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). Rotavirus vaccine should also be given at approximately age 6 and 10 weeks.
Measles vaccine should be given at or soon after the child reaches age 9 months, and at 18 months. Each child who is vaccinated receives an immunisation card on which all of the vaccines received are recorded.
The schedule recommends that is also that the immunisation card be given to the parents or guardians.
During the survey the information on vaccinations was gathered from two sources: it includes where immunisation cards were available, the interviewer copied the information directly into the questionnaire; and where cards were not available because the mother never had one, or the card was unavailable at the time of the survey, or the mother had lost the card, mothers were asked to recall whether or not the child had received each of the vaccines covered by the survey.
The results presented were based on both immunisation information (booklet or card) and, for those children without a booklet or card, information provided by the mother.
The age of 12-23 months is the age by which children should have received all basic vaccinations. Eighty-four percent of these children have an immunisation card that was seen by the interviewer, the report says.
Mothers’ educational level and wealth status are positively correlated with basic vaccination coverage of their children.
For example, 68 percent of children whose mothers had no education received all basic vaccinations, as compared with 76 percent of those children whose mothers had primary education and 81 percent of those whose mothers had secondary education or higher.
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