‘When Will They Ever Learn?’: The Great Indian Experience of Universal Immunization Program

Nilanjan Patra, Jawaharlal Nehru University

The study attempts to analyse the effects of some selected demographic and socioeconomic predictor variables on the likelihood of immunisation of a child for six vaccine-preventable diseases covered under UIP. It focuses on immunisation coverage in all of India with special emphasis on three groups of states, viz., Empowered Action Group, North-Eastern and Other states. The study applies a logistic regression model to the three rounds of National Family Health Survey data. The results are robust across different models. The likelihood of immunisation increases with urban residence, mother’s education, mother’s age, mother’s exposure to mass media, mother’s awareness, antenatal care during pregnancy, wealth index, household electrification, mother’s empowerment index, and caste/ tribe hierarchy. It is also higher for boys than girls but it decreases for higher birth-order children irrespective of the sex of the child. Emphasis on these demand enhancing factors is necessary to make the immunisation programme justly universal.