Demand and Supply Side Factors Affecting Utilization of Immunization Services in an Urban Village Of Delhi

Abstract

Even after introducing the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) three decades ago, India is still far from achieving the target 4 of Millennium Development Goals. The target is to reduce the under-five mortality by twothirds by 2015 end but India still hasn’t achieved that. Undoubtedly, raising the immunization coverage will contribute towards bringing down the mortality rate of children. This short commentary tries to throw light on the various demand and supply side factors that play a role in determining the immunization. The factors influencing immunization are education level of parents, socio-economic status, family structure, family size, immunization card, migrant population, healthcare delivery service quality, institutional deliveries, tetanus immunization of expectant mothers, contraception use, supply of vaccines and motivation of healthcare personals providing vaccination services.