Selected Non-Price Factors and its Effects to Children’s Immunization Coverage in Pandacan, Philippines

Abstract

Since 2008, the Philippines has been facing a continuous decline in its immunization rate for vaccine-preventable diseases leading to the re-emergence of polio cases and a nationwide measles outbreak. In 2017, more than half of the entire child population did not receive the complete set of vaccines. This study addressed this issue by discussing selected non-price factors that may affect immunization coverage of children, specifically, parental/caregiver vaccine literacy, the distance of the household's residence to a health facility, and the household size. This research used data from the survey questionnaires that were answered by parents or caregivers with children aged above one to five residing in Barangay 845, Pandacan, Manila. Multiple logistic regression was applied to analyze the data, and it was determined that parental/caregiver vaccine literacy and household size are significant factors that affect immunization coverage of children. However, the distance of the household's residence to a health facility was found to be insignificant to a child's immunization coverage.