Waseem Iqbal, Syed Hasan Danish, Farah Ahmad.
Factors responsible for non-compliance of timely administration of BCG vaccine in district Jehlum, Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;5(3):30-5.
OBJECTIVES: To assess factors for the non-compliance of BCG administration at appropriate time, primarily. This was also to nd level of awareness of parents regarding the EPI schedule in District Jhelum; to assess timely vaccination with special emphasis on BCG; and to discuss the tangible factors for delay and their remedial measures. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in District Jhelum, over a period of six months, with the target population of all parents having children > 2 years of age. A representative sample of 450 parents having children of less than two years of age was selected. Data was collected through a questionnaire by teams of two members- one male and one female. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysed using SPSS, Version 20. For qualitative analysis, interviews of the key persons of Dist. Jhelum in EPI and their suggestions and recommendations were gathered for the remedy. RESULTS: Out of 450 children under 2 years, 164, i.e. 36.4 %, were vaccinated with BCG during the rst seven days after their birth. Regarding the awareness of parents about EPI 389, i.e. 86.4 %, are aware of EPI. Monthly incomes greater than 20,000 Rupees, 90.8 had their child vaccinated within the rst week. This shows that only 36.4 % were vaccinated during the rst 7 days, while the remaining was vaccinated after the rst week of their life signifying the noteworthy delay in the administration of the vaccine. Regarding the qualitative part of the study, it was revealed that the factors for delayed BCG vaccination were 20- dose vile, inadequate resources including logistic, and manpower and inefcient supervising and monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: This study concludes that there is a signicant delay in timely vaccination in children even with generally omniscient parents regarding the EPI schedule. Increase in the respective household incomes, educated parents- especially mothers, deliveries in hospitals, outreach vaccination, punctuality of the vaccinator and the mother's 'more than' two antenatal visits are factors that help raise BCG-vaccination rates. Thus the introduction of the single-dose vial, the provision of resources and strict monitoring can help alleviate these concerns. KEY WORDS: EPI, BCG, Vaccine, Timely.
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