Immunization services accesses in pastoralist communities of Ethiopia

Background: The EPI program in Ethiopia has been implementing since 1980s, however there is substantial number of children's not immunized in pastoralist communities. The GAVI-CSO support Project Bridge the gap in reaching the unreached children's for immunization through CSOs collaborative effort. Objective: To assess the contribution of GAVI-CSO support project on improving immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months old and knowledge of mothers/cares takers on VPD. Methods: The survey was conducted in 22 project Woredas using a cross-sectional method with a 30 by 10 modified WHO EPI cluster sampling technique for interviewing mothers/care takers with target children. Data was collected using standardized structured questioner which further entered and analyzed using EpiData entry II and STATA. Results: Vaccination status of children's was significantly increased compared to the baseline (P<0.001) with a decline on polio 0 (P=0.006) however, the coverage decreases by owning vaccination card. On the other hand, Knowledge of mothers on VPD was declined compared to the baseline except pneumonia and meningitis which significantly increased. Recommendation: Needs to sustain the immunization coverage in the areas using the established sense of ownership. Immunization cards should be retained at home by discussing with the health institutions involved in vaccination. There is a need to strengthen knowledge of mothers on vaccine preventable diseases and timing of subsequent vaccinations through continuous, targeted information, education and communication (IEC) interventions.