Introduction: Avoidable diseases cause more than two million deaths worldwide every year. In sub-Saharan Africa, only half of all children receive their complete vaccine series. In Senegal, an expanded program of immunization began as a pilot program in 1979 and was generalised in 1985. Nonetheless poor population adherence to child immunization makes it difficult to meet its annual target of 80% per vaccine. This study sought to explore the factors related to failure to complete routine immunization in Ndoulo, in the health district of Diourbel.
Method: A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical survey was conducted from 16-25 April 2005 among mothers of 562 children aged 10 to 23 months in Ndoulo.
Results: Among children who started their vaccine series (with BCG vaccine against tuberculosis), 68.0% received the measles vaccine (the last of the series), 67.1% completed the vaccine series (receiving all required vaccines) but only 19.4% were correctly vaccinated according to the program's vaccination schedule, with the correct number of boosters at the appropriate time. Non-compliance with the immunization schedule was related to parents' lack of time (40.3%), forgetting to return (33.2%), losing the immunization card (10.3%), travels (7.7%), and lack of money (1.1%). Completely vaccinated children were more likely to be male, to have their immunization card available, to have parents aware of the vaccines' side effects and the immunization schedule, and to have their immunization paid for by their father.
Discussion: In Ndoulo, health district of Diourbel, adequate immunization coverage is very low because of the high rate of abandonment and poor compliance with vaccination schedules. The predominant factors, especially related to the populations, are negligence.
Conclusion: Actions such as increasing parental awareness, promoting child sponsorship systems, and requiring immunization records for school enrollment, are needed to address these factors, to improve immunization coverage in Diourbel.