Department of Political Science, McGill University, Canada.
Soc Sci Med. 2012 Jan;74(2):120-4. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.013. Epub 2011 Nov 29.
Childhood vaccination is a proven and cost-effective way to reduce childhood mortality; however, participation in vaccination programs is not universal even where programs are free or low cost. Studies in diverse countries have reported work conflicts as limiting parents' ability to vaccinate their children. Using policy data for 185 UN member countries, we explore the hypothesis that an increased opportunity for parents to bring children to vaccination sites will translate into higher childhood vaccination rates. To do so, we use OLS regression to examine the relationship between the duration of adequately paid maternal leave and the uptake of vaccines. We find that a higher number of full-time equivalent weeks of paid maternal leave is associated with higher childhood vaccination rates, even after controlling for GDP per capita, health care expenditures, and social factors. Further research is needed to assess whether this association is upheld in longitudinal and intervention studies, as well as whether other forms of leave such as paid leave to care for the health of family members is effective at increasing the ability of parents to bring children for needed preventive care.
儿童疫苗接种是一种经过验证且具有成本效益的降低儿童死亡率的方法；然而，即使在免费或低成本的疫苗接种计划中，参与率也不是普遍的。在不同国家进行的研究报告称，工作冲突限制了父母为子女接种疫苗的能力。我们利用 185 个联合国成员国的政策数据，探讨了这样一种假设，即增加父母带孩子到疫苗接种点的机会将转化为更高的儿童疫苗接种率。为此，我们使用 OLS 回归来检验充分带薪产假时间与疫苗接种率之间的关系。我们发现，即使在控制人均 GDP、医疗保健支出和社会因素后，带薪产假的全职等效周数越多，儿童疫苗接种率也越高。需要进一步研究来评估这种关联是否在纵向和干预研究中得到维持，以及其他形式的休假（如带薪休假照顾家庭成员的健康）是否能有效提高父母为孩子提供必要预防保健的能力。
