The Impact of War in Yemen on Immunization Coverage of Children Under One Year of Age: Descriptive Study

Amr Torbosh; Mohammed Abdulla Al Amad; Abdulwahed Al Serouri; Yousef Khader

doi:10.2196/14461

The Impact of War in Yemen on Immunization Coverage of Children Under One Year of Age: Descriptive Study

JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Oct 23;5(4):e14461. doi: 10.2196/14461.

Authors

Amr Torbosh¹, Mohammed Abdulla Al Amad¹, Abdulwahed Al Serouri¹, Yousef Khader²

Affiliations

¹ Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program, The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network, Sanaa, Yemen.
² Department of Community Medicine, Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Amman, Jordan.

PMID: 31647465
PMCID: PMC6913770
DOI: 10.2196/14461

Abstract

Background: After 2 years of war that crippled the capacity of the Yemeni National Health System and left only 45% of health facilities functioning, Yemen faced increasing vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) outbreaks and may be at high risk of polio importation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the 2015 war on the immunization coverage of children under 1 year.

Methods: Data on vaccination coverage for 2012-2015 were obtained from the national Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). The vaccination coverage was calculated at the national and governorate levels by dividing the number of actually vaccinated children by the estimated population of children under 1 year.

Results: Although there was an increase from 2012 to 2014 in the national coverage for penta-3 vaccine (82% in 2012 vs 88% in 2014) and measles vaccine (70% in 2012 vs 75% in 2014), the coverage was still below the national target (≥95%). Furthermore, the year 2015 witnessed a marked drop in the national coverage compared with 2014 for the measles vaccine (66% in 2015 vs 75% in 2014), but a slight drop in penta-3 vaccine coverage (84% in 2015 vs 88% in 2014). Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine also showed a marked drop from 73% in 2014 to 49% in 2015. These reductions were more marked in governorates that witnessed armed confrontations (eg, Taiz, Lahj, and Sa'dah governorates). On the other hand, governorates that did not witness armed confrontations showed an increase in coverage (eg, Raymah and Ibb), owing to an increase in their population because of displacement from less secure and confrontation-prone governorates.

Conclusions: This analysis demonstrated the marked negative impact of the 2015 war on immunization coverage, especially in the governorates that witnessed armed confrontations. This could put Yemen at more risk of VPD outbreaks and polio importation. Besides the ongoing efforts to stop the Yemeni war, strategies for more innovative vaccine delivery or provision and fulfilling the increasing demands are needed, especially in governorates with confrontations. Enhancing EPI performance through supportable investments in infrastructure that was destroyed by the war and providing decentralized funds are a prerequisite.

Keywords: 2015 war; Y-FETP; Yemen; immunization coverage; impact.

©Amr Torbosh, Mohammed Abdulla Al Amad, Abdulwahed Al Serouri, Yousef Khader. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 23.10.2019.