Abstract:
Background: Access to routine vaccines is a global concern. Despite immunization being safe and cost-effective health technology against Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD), availability of routine vaccines in health facilities has remained an obstacle. Various factors have been associated to vaccine shortages. The study assessed the factors that influence the availability of routine vaccines in healthcare facilities at Tana River County, Kenya.
Objective: To assess the factors that influences the availability of vaccines for immunization to children in healthcare facilities at Tana River County.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted. Census sampling technique was used where all the 61 immunizing health facilities within the County were included in the study. The research was carried out in Tana River County located in the coastal region of Kenya covering 38,862 km2 with a population of 352,891 and 12,704 under one year children. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was collected from the healthcare workers in the immunization department. The data was cleaned and recorded in Microsoft excel. STATA version 14 was used to analyze data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis at 0.05 level of significance and summarized in tables and figures. Prior to study the researcher requested for ethical clearance from KNH/UON-ERC, NACOSTI, County department of health, in charges from the health facilities and an informed consent from the respondents.
Results: 62.71% of the healthcare facilities experienced vaccine stock out. Unavailability of vaccines at the district deport was the main contributing factor at 27.12%. The results revealed only 64.41% of the respondents had the knowledge to calculate vaccine requirement at a point in time and 42.37% of the last order had the correct quantity for the supply period. The study showed 33.90% of the cold chain equipment were installed and in use for more than ten years. The findings revealed 11.86% of the refrigerators experienced breakdown more than three times for the past one year. There was statistically significant association between availability of vaccines and work experience iv (p=0.001), training in immunization services (p=0.027) catchment area map with target population displayed in the facility (p= 0.049), and use of target population method in vaccine forecasting (p= 0.004). The independent predictor on multivariate analysis was work experience (p= 0.025).
Conclusion: Healthcare facilities experienced routine vaccine stock out which was attributed to poor vaccine stock management practices and weak cold chain system. Work experience contributed significantly to availability of vaccines in healthcare facilities.
