Assessment of Vaccination Coverage of Children Aged 12-23 Months in the Provinces of Ituri and Haut-Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019

Abstract

Vaccination of children continues to pose problems, and the vaccination coverage rate is very low in DR Congo. Cultural, social and economic constraints at various levels are thought to be the main causes. Faced with this health emergency, the Congolese government has implemented strategies to increase the level of immunization coverage among children, and to help reduce child morbidity and mortality linked to vaccine-preventable diseases. A household survey was carried out in 2019 in the provinces of Ituri and Haut-Katanga to estimate the level of coverage at grassroots level. A representative cluster sample was used to exhaustively cover 63 health zones (36 in Ituri and 27 in Haut-Katanga). Over 6,300 mothers/caregivers of children aged 10-23 months were interviewed, at a rate of 100 mothers/caregivers per health zone. The results of this survey show that overall, nearly 49% of children aged 10-23 months are fully vaccinated in Ituri, compared with 53.12% in Haut-Katanga. There are still large numbers of zerodose children (those who have never been vaccinated since birth). For all vaccines, results varied: 53.12% of children in Ituri and 46.88% in Haut-Katanga received the bacillus Calmette and Guerin (BCG) vaccine. BCG vaccine was administered at birth to 39.76% of children in Ituri, versus 60.24% in Haut-Katanga. The discrepancies suggest a missed opportunity and therefore unmet needs for several reasons, principally vaccine stock-outs. For other antigens, there is a downward trend in both provinces between input and output doses. This suggests a lack of effective monitoring. Only 49.6% of children in Ituri and 50.33% of children in Haut-Katanga received the entry dose of polio vaccine (OPV0).