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Nomadic and Rural Population of Balochistan: Exploring the Pockets of Poor Childhood Immunization in the Most Under-Vaccinated Province of Pakistan

Received: 25 April 2022     Accepted: 20 May 2022     Published: 31 May 2022
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Abstract

Objective: To assess the immunization coverage of children less than 2 years of age in rural and nomadic population of Balochistan. To assess the knowledge of parents about EPI immunization and find reasons of poor vaccination. Material and methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural population and nomadic tribes located in suburbs of district Zhob, Balochistan. One hundred families of rural areas and 100 families of nomadic tribes were interviewed. Information regarding the vaccination status of children, parents’ knowledge of EPI vaccinationand reasons of not vaccinating children or skipping vaccines were asked and noted. Education status of parents and socioeconomic status was also noted. Results: There were 295 children under 2 year age in the study population with 146 (49.5%) males and 149 (50.5%) females. Among rural population, 25 (16.4%) children were completely vaccinated, 106 (69.7%) children were partially vaccinated and 21 (13.8%) children never received any vaccination. In nomadic population, 10 (7%) children were completely vaccinated, 88 (61.5%) were partially vaccinated and 45 (31.5%) were unvaccinated. There was significant difference between vaccination status of families belonging to rural population versus those of nomadic population (P=0.002). Most common reason of skipping one or more vaccines was lack of knowledge and awareness in 28.8% cases. There was significant association between education status of fathers and mothers with vaccination status of families. Conclusion: Routine immunization of children in rural and nomadic population of Balochistan is dismal. Main culprits are lack of knowledge and awareness, compounded by illiteracy and poor education status of parents.

Published in American Journal of Pediatrics (Volume 8, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21
Page(s) 115-120
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Immunization, Vaccination, Nomadic Population, Polio, Measles

References
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[3] WHO. Immunization. Immunization in the South-East Asia. 2022. https://www.who.int/southeastasia/health-topics/immunization.
[4] Saeed R, Hashmi I. Pakistan ranks third globally with the most unvaccinated children: Is the impact of parental perception and attitude on immunizationan essential contributing factor to an unsuccessful vaccination coverage. Cureus 2021; 13 (11): e19751. Doi: 10.7759/cureus. 19751.
[5] Khan A, Bibi A, Khan KS, Butt AR, Alvi HA, Naqvi AZ, Mushtaq S, Khan YH, Ahmad N. Routine pediatric vaccination in Paksitan during COVID-19: How can healthcare professionals help? Front Pediatr 2020; 8: 613433. Doi; 3389/fped.2020.613433.
[6] Akram S, Khan MA, Rehman A, Shah HBU. Epidemiological characteristics, vaccination coverage and complications in pediatric cases of measles, Zhob Pakistan. BJMHS 2021; 3 (5): 957-63. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352006650_Epidemiological_Characteristics_Vaccination_Coverage_And_Complication_In_Pediatric_Cases_Of_Measles_Zhob.
[7] Yazdani AT, Muhammad A, Nisar MI, Khan U, Shafiq Y. Unveiling and addressing implementation barriers to routine immunization in the peri-urban slums of Karachi, Pakistan: a mixed method study. Health Res policy Sys 2021; 19 (Suppl 2): 55. Doi: 10.1186/s12961-021-00691-4.
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[13] Khattak FA, Rehman K, Shahzad M, Arif N, Ullah N, Kibria Z et al. Prevalence of parental refusal rate and its associated factors in routine immunization by using WHO vaccine hesitancy tool: A cross-sectional study at district Bannu, KP, Pakistan. Int J Infect Dis 2021; 104: 117-24. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.12.029.
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  • APA Style

    Sumera Akram, Muhammad Ahmed Khan, Abdul Rehman, Noor-ul-Haq. (2022). Nomadic and Rural Population of Balochistan: Exploring the Pockets of Poor Childhood Immunization in the Most Under-Vaccinated Province of Pakistan. American Journal of Pediatrics, 8(2), 115-120. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21

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    ACS Style

    Sumera Akram; Muhammad Ahmed Khan; Abdul Rehman; Noor-ul-Haq. Nomadic and Rural Population of Balochistan: Exploring the Pockets of Poor Childhood Immunization in the Most Under-Vaccinated Province of Pakistan. Am. J. Pediatr. 2022, 8(2), 115-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21

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    AMA Style

    Sumera Akram, Muhammad Ahmed Khan, Abdul Rehman, Noor-ul-Haq. Nomadic and Rural Population of Balochistan: Exploring the Pockets of Poor Childhood Immunization in the Most Under-Vaccinated Province of Pakistan. Am J Pediatr. 2022;8(2):115-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21,
      author = {Sumera Akram and Muhammad Ahmed Khan and Abdul Rehman and Noor-ul-Haq},
      title = {Nomadic and Rural Population of Balochistan: Exploring the Pockets of Poor Childhood Immunization in the Most Under-Vaccinated Province of Pakistan},
      journal = {American Journal of Pediatrics},
      volume = {8},
      number = {2},
      pages = {115-120},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajp.20220802.21},
      abstract = {Objective: To assess the immunization coverage of children less than 2 years of age in rural and nomadic population of Balochistan. To assess the knowledge of parents about EPI immunization and find reasons of poor vaccination. Material and methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural population and nomadic tribes located in suburbs of district Zhob, Balochistan. One hundred families of rural areas and 100 families of nomadic tribes were interviewed. Information regarding the vaccination status of children, parents’ knowledge of EPI vaccinationand reasons of not vaccinating children or skipping vaccines were asked and noted. Education status of parents and socioeconomic status was also noted. Results: There were 295 children under 2 year age in the study population with 146 (49.5%) males and 149 (50.5%) females. Among rural population, 25 (16.4%) children were completely vaccinated, 106 (69.7%) children were partially vaccinated and 21 (13.8%) children never received any vaccination. In nomadic population, 10 (7%) children were completely vaccinated, 88 (61.5%) were partially vaccinated and 45 (31.5%) were unvaccinated. There was significant difference between vaccination status of families belonging to rural population versus those of nomadic population (P=0.002). Most common reason of skipping one or more vaccines was lack of knowledge and awareness in 28.8% cases. There was significant association between education status of fathers and mothers with vaccination status of families. Conclusion: Routine immunization of children in rural and nomadic population of Balochistan is dismal. Main culprits are lack of knowledge and awareness, compounded by illiteracy and poor education status of parents.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Nomadic and Rural Population of Balochistan: Exploring the Pockets of Poor Childhood Immunization in the Most Under-Vaccinated Province of Pakistan
    AU  - Sumera Akram
    AU  - Muhammad Ahmed Khan
    AU  - Abdul Rehman
    AU  - Noor-ul-Haq
    Y1  - 2022/05/31
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21
    T2  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    JF  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    JO  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    SP  - 115
    EP  - 120
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-0909
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20220802.21
    AB  - Objective: To assess the immunization coverage of children less than 2 years of age in rural and nomadic population of Balochistan. To assess the knowledge of parents about EPI immunization and find reasons of poor vaccination. Material and methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural population and nomadic tribes located in suburbs of district Zhob, Balochistan. One hundred families of rural areas and 100 families of nomadic tribes were interviewed. Information regarding the vaccination status of children, parents’ knowledge of EPI vaccinationand reasons of not vaccinating children or skipping vaccines were asked and noted. Education status of parents and socioeconomic status was also noted. Results: There were 295 children under 2 year age in the study population with 146 (49.5%) males and 149 (50.5%) females. Among rural population, 25 (16.4%) children were completely vaccinated, 106 (69.7%) children were partially vaccinated and 21 (13.8%) children never received any vaccination. In nomadic population, 10 (7%) children were completely vaccinated, 88 (61.5%) were partially vaccinated and 45 (31.5%) were unvaccinated. There was significant difference between vaccination status of families belonging to rural population versus those of nomadic population (P=0.002). Most common reason of skipping one or more vaccines was lack of knowledge and awareness in 28.8% cases. There was significant association between education status of fathers and mothers with vaccination status of families. Conclusion: Routine immunization of children in rural and nomadic population of Balochistan is dismal. Main culprits are lack of knowledge and awareness, compounded by illiteracy and poor education status of parents.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Pediatrics, District Headquarter Hospital Zhob, Zhob, Pakistan

  • Department of ENT, Combined Military Hospital Zhob, Zhob, Pakistan

  • Department of Pediatrics, Bahawalpur Medical & Dental College Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

  • Department of Orthopedics, District Headquarter Hospital Zhob, Zhob, Pakistan

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