BACKGROUND

Immunization is among the most cost-effective health interventions to improve child survival. However, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa failed to achieve their national and international coverage targets repeatedly. The present study investigated trends of coverage and inequalities in coverage in Ethiopia.

METHODS

This study used data from five rounds of the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Ethiopia in 2000, 2005, 2011, 2016, and 2019. The surveys used a multistage cluster sampling procedure to obtain a nationally and sub-nationally representative data. The outcome variables included in the study were full immunization coverage and inequality. The World Health Organization's Health Equity Assessment Toolkit was used to conduct the inequality analysis. Projections for 2025 were based on smoothed averages generated using the demographic and health survey data from 2000 to 2019.

RESULTS

The full (basic) immunization coverage in Ethiopia has increased steadily from 14.3% in 2000 to 44.1% in 2019. Based on the average past performance, the immunization coverage is projected to reach 53.6% by 2025, which will be short of the 75% national full (basic) immunization coverage target for the year 2025. Mothers with higher levels of education are more likely to get their children all basic vaccinations than those with lower levels of education. Similarly, the inequality gaps due to wealth and residency are significant; where children in the lowest wealth strata and those living in rural areas remained disadvantaged.

CONCLUSION

Despite a steady increase in immunization coverage in the past two decades the country is yet to achieve its immunization target. Thus, more efforts are needed to achieve the current and future national immunization targets. A more focused intervention targeting the disadvantaged groups could be an effective strategy to achieve coverage and minimize the inequality gaps in immunization.