A Community Based Assessment of the Immunization Coverage and the Associated Factors of Children Aged 12-23 Months at Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia

Background: More than 10 million of the child deaths each year are caused by lack of application of evidence based, and cost effec - tive prevention methods. Immunization coverage is one of the indicators used to monitor progress towards the achievement of MDG4 and the reduction of child morbidity and mortality, as it is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions for reaching these goals. According to the 2011 EDHS, 24% of Ethiopian children aged 12-23 months have received all recommended vaccines. Conclusion: There is low immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months in the study compared to WHO target though it is higher than the national immunization coverage (24.0%). Community mobilization and efforts to raise the awareness of mothers are important strategies to increase immunization coverage in the area. Results: Majority of the mother (55.1%) aged from 21-30 years old with a range from 17 to 49 years old. Of mothers interviewed, 79.8% were married, 31.3% able to write and read, 44.9% housewife, 35.0% had monthly income of greater than 2000 ETB, 87.1% mothers were Amhara, and 72.7% were Orthodox. Of all participants, 98.3% were reported as they had access to the health institu- tion. Majority respondents (53.8%) had average walking time to the nearest health institutions 15 to 30 minutes. Overall immuniza- tion coverage by card and history accounted 85.9%, but only 54.0% were confirmed by card, and 14.1% were unimmunized. Of the total, 54.0% took OPV1 to OPV3 and penta 1 and penta 2 followed by penta 3 and measles (53%). Mothers' marital status, educational status, their occupation and some other variables showed statistically significant association with our dependent variable by Pearson chi-square test analysis (p = 0.00). Among mothers,92.9% had at least one ANC follow up during their pregnancy and most of them received three or more ANC service, and 87.6% of them ever took > 1 doses of TT vaccine.