Determinants of Routine Immunization Uptake Among Children Aged 12- 23 Months in Internally Displaced Person Settlements of Bauchi State, Nigeria

Routine Immunization (R.I) has been a cost-effective public health intervention that significantly reduced children’s morbidities and mortalities associated with vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Despite the remarkable improvement in its global coverage, Nigeria is far below the WHO recommendation of 90% coverage, which might have contributed significantly to the recent Measles, Pertussis, and Polio epidemics within the country, especially in the Northeastern region where the insurgency has resulted in the displacement of over a million people. There is a paucity of studies conducted in the area to ascertain the R.I uptake among internally displaced persons (IDPs). This study, therefore, aimed at determining the factors affecting R.I uptake among children aged 12-23 months in IDPs of Bauchi, a state reported to have only 14% of fully vaccinated children according to R.I schedule. It was a cross-sectional survey employing a two-stage cluster sampling technique with a validated questionnaire administered to 391 mothers/caregivers of under-fives in Bauchi IDP settlements in 2018. The study found that more than half of the respondents (56.3%) lived in rural areas, with a mean age of 27.9 years (S.D=+/-5.7). Most (63.7%) had good R.I. but poor VPD knowledge. The study found that less than one-third (29.9%) of the children were fully vaccinated, and 22.0% were not vaccinated the uptake of various antigens were found to be BCG (78.0%), PENTA1 (63.7%), PENTA2 (53.5%), PENTA3 (44.2%), and Measles (32.2%). The significant positive predictors of childhood full immunization status after multivariate analysis were living in an urban settlement, ANC attendance more than three times, maternal income above the poverty line, a distance less than 5km to immunization centres, good R.I knowledge, child delivery in health facility, and immunization card availability. The R.I. uptake was low, and more strategies like community outreaches, mobile vaccine posts, and health education should be employed to scale up the coverage.