Biomedical and Environmental Sciences
Volume 20, Issue 5, 2007, Pages 357-365

Feasibility study of enforcing immunization certificate check before primary school or kindergarten enrollment in Guizhou Province, China (Article)

Li S. , Zuo S.-Y. , Xie J. , Qi Y.-L. , Tong Y.-B. , Tang G.-P. , Zhou J. , Zhang D.-Y. , Long C.-B. , Du W. , Feng Z.-J.*
  • a Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100005, China
  • b Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
  • c Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2SR, United Kingdom
  • d Medical College Preventive Department, Beihua University, Jilin, 132013, Jilin, China
  • e Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou, China
  • f Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou, China
  • g Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Qiandongnan District, Kaili 510800, Guizhou, China
  • h Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou, China
  • i Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Qiandongnan District, Kaili 510800, Guizhou, China
  • j Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550000, Guizhou, China
  • k Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China, Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Nanwei Road, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100050, China, Office for Disease Control and Emergency Response, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China

Abstract

Objective To study the feasibility of enforcing immunization certificate check before children enroll in primary schools or kindergartens in Guizhou Province. Methods Quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted. The multi-stage and cluster sampling approach was adopted for the quantitative part of the study. A questionnaire was designed and 996 children and their keepers were interviewed. Principals, doctors or teachers of the primary schools, directors and child care nurses of kindergarten, and staff of immunization agencies were invited to take part in 12 focus group discussions; meanwhile, face-to-face individual in-depth interviews with 16 officials of the Health, Education and Governmental Departments at various levels were conducted. Results The total number of subjects was 996. 16.7% of the children in the study completed all the procedures of the National Immunization Programme. 34.3% of them had immunization certificates while the remainder 44.7% registered in immunization agencies. Factors, including the migrant children, doubt about vaccine efficiency, mother's occupation and educational background, knowledge of the National Immunization Programme on targeted vaccines, played an important role in obtaining or not immunization certificates. 95% of the keepers interviewed thought the immunization certificates were useful; 94.8% of them considered the check was critical while only 3.6% of them thought it unnecessary. The first reason from those who found it unnecessary was that they feared that repeated immunization might affect their children's health. The second reason was the cost of immunization, which some of them could not afford to pay. However, the Health Department expressed a favorable attitude to the checking scheme. Though the Education Department agreed that the scheme was essential, they worried that it would affect the enrollment rate. Conclusion In spite of the difficulty in administering immunization certificate check, the effort would be rewarding for raising the immunization coverage rate among the children in Guizhou Province. Copyright © 2007 by China CDC.

Author Keywords

Sampling research Immunization certificate check Enrollment rate Quantitative study Impacting factors Qualitative study

Index Keywords

China human Schools Feasibility Studies student Humans Medical Records male preschool child female Child, Preschool medical record questionnaire school Article feasibility study Questionnaires migration legal aspect age distribution Students Transients and Migrants vaccination immunization
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-37048999368&partnerID=40&md5=ebe01edfccf82cbc7526199d6dcecc70
ISSN: 08953988
Cited by: 1
Original Language: English