ASSESSMENT OF CHILDHOOD VACCINE AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY AT JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA TEACHING AND REFERRAL HOSPITAL.

Abstract

The study aimed to assess childhood vaccine availability and accessibility at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga teaching and referral hospital. Specifically, the study sought to establish the number of children fully vaccinated, ascertain the full vaccination under the KEPI schedule, establish how many children were given return dates for subsequent vaccinations and ascertain which factors hindered the accessibility of vaccines. The study employed a descriptive survey research design and sampled 196 respondents from the target population. This study used questionnaires and interviews, and afterwards, the data was sorted, coded and categorized to enable the information to be easily analyzed statistically and descriptive statistics to summarize the data. The analysis of the findings was done using the IBM SPSS statistical software. The results are presented using graphs, charts and tables for easy interpretation. The study found that (88.3%) of the respondents were fully vaccinated according to the Kenya Expanded Program on Immunization (KEPI) schedule. Only (11.7%) of the respondents stated that their children had not been fully immunized. When asked why their children were not fully vaccinated, (10.7%) of the respondents stated that there were vaccine stock-outs periodically. Furthermore, 15 (7.7%) of the respondents stated that they received vaccines late, with the OPV3, PENTA3, PCV3, and IPV3 being the vaccines administered late at (5.6%). When asked which vaccines had not been received, (9.7%) of the respondents stated that their children had not received the ROTA1 and the ROTA2 vaccinations. It was also found that the occasional stock-out of vaccines in the facility greatly affected the Immunization of children (55.6%) of the respondents concurring with the finding. In comparison (43.4%) of the respondents stated that the stock-outs did not affect the immunization program. The results also show that all children were fully vaccinated under the various immunization programs free of charge. There were other indirect costs, such as transport, with 29 (14.8%) respondents stating that the lack of transport was a challenge in coming in for the vaccination. It was further established that (75.5%) of different myths and misconceptions greatly affected their decision to seek Immunization for their children. In comparison, only (23.5%) stated that the myths and misconceptions did not affect their decision to seek Immunization. The study x also found that (63.3%) of the respondents stated that the travelling distance to the facility greatly affected whether their children would get vaccinated. In comparison, only (30.6%) felt it did not affect whether their child would get vaccinated. Furthermore, (72.4%) of the respondents stated that the physical infrastructure had an effect, while only (27.0%) felt that the state of the physical brought about no effect. Finally, the results showed that (62.2%) of the respondents thought that the vaccination records greatly affected whether their children get vaccinated. In comparison (37.8%) stated that it did not involve getting their children vaccinated. It was further found that (63.3%) of the respondents said that rescheduling greatly affected their children's vaccination.