Socio-Economic Sources of Household Preferences for Vaccination in Pakistan

Abstract

Abstract In Pakistan, childhood immunization is a critical health issue, and disparities in immunization are prevalent among regions and socioeconomic groups. This paper focuses on the socio-economic factors of complete immunization of children using nationally representative data of the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2019-2020. The study focuses on 17,674 children aged 12-24 months of age, and full immunization was a complete set of 14 age-appropriate vaccines recorded via vaccination cards or through the maternal recall. A binary logistic regression model is employed to estimate the relationship between household, demographic, and access-related factors and immunization status at the national and provincial levels. The findings show that parental education, especially the mother's education, significantly increases the likelihood of complete immunization, while greater distance to health facilities decreases the likelihood of complete immunization. Children born in health facilities, those whose mothers received prenatal care, and those residing in Punjab exhibit higher immunization coverage. On the other hand, rural residence and access restrictions are also significant barriers, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The findings propose that to increase the immunization coverage in Pakistan, special targeted interventions are necessary that deal with health care access, education of mothers, and regional disparities.