75.3% children aged 12 -23 months fully immunized: Survey.

ISLAMABAD -- The Third Party Verification of Immunization Coverage Survey (TPVICS) on Thursday revealed that 75.3 percent of children aged 12 -23 months are fully immunized in Pakistan.

The dissemination event of the Third Party Verification Immunization Survey (TPVICS) which was organized here was supported by the World Bank and Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by Agha Khan University Karachi.

The survey provided a complete picture of the progress reported by the provincial EPI programme against Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLI) under the NISP (National Immunization Support Project).

The objective of the survey was to verify the reported immunization coverage data and provide additional data on indicators that measure demand-side issues impacting immunization coverage in Pakistan.

The key finding of the survey states that 75.3% of the children ages between 12-23 months are fully immunized. Around 93% of the target children were immunized with Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, while 83.6 % were immunized with Penta 3 antigen at the national level. Two-third (66.3%) of mothers presented immunization cards of their children.

Overall, 88,762 clusters, 109,495 Households (HHs) and 110,905 children were covered in TPVICS. Children born during September 2018 to January 2019 were also enrolled in the survey.

The DLI-I of the NISP was to assess the coverage of the fully immunized children aged between 12-23 months in the provinces and federating areas. The results of the survey revealed that Punjab and Balochistan had achieved the third-year DLI target of NISP for fully immunized children.

The DLI 3 was meant to report the percentage of districts in each province reporting at least 80% coverage of Penta 3 immunization among children aged between 12-23 months. According to the survey, Punjab and KP achieved their respective targets.

The DLI 8 which assess vaccination cards retention among children under two year in each project province. According to the survey, Punjab and KP have achieved the year four target of NISP vaccination card retention.

The DLI 10 which aimed to assess fully immunized coverage among children aged 12-23 months in 10 mega districts of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, KP and Islamabad. According to the survey, 73.5 % children were fully immunized in these districts.

On the occasion, Dr. Akram Shah, National Programme Manager EPI appreciated the efforts of all partners including the provincial and district...