[6]
A Short Background on Vaccinations
Historically, Chad has been a very poor country with ineffective health infrastructure. Without access to good medical care many children are not being vaccinated for preventable diseases such as measles [25]. Mothers have to travel long distances on bumpy roads to get to areas where their children can be taken care of. Children have long suffered with malnutrition making them even more susceptible to disease [13]. The following are charts that map the history of vaccines in Chad.
The World Health Organization (WHO) collects annual data on the number of measles (MCV) immunization coverage among 1 year olds [13]. Of 23 years of Data, the all-time low was 17% in 2002, while the all-time high was 64% in 2012 [4]. The following was collected from Chadian statistics:
The World Health Organization (WHO) collects annual data on the number of measles (MCV) immunization coverage among 1 year olds [13]. Of 23 years of Data, the all-time low was 17% in 2002, while the all-time high was 64% in 2012 [4]. The following was collected from Chadian statistics:
Year Value(%) [2]
2012-12-31 64 2001-12-31 26
2011-12-31 54 2000-12-31 28
2010-12-31 46 1999-12-31 30
2009-12-31 49 1998-12-31 20
2008-12-31 27 1997-12-31 30
2007-12-31 39 1996-12-31 22
2006-12-31 45 1994-12-31 24
2005-12-31 32 1993-12-31 19
2004-12-31 18 1992-12-31 25
2003-12-31 23 1991-12-31 28
2002-12-31 17 1990-12-31 32
[16]
2012-12-31 64 2001-12-31 26
2011-12-31 54 2000-12-31 28
2010-12-31 46 1999-12-31 30
2009-12-31 49 1998-12-31 20
2008-12-31 27 1997-12-31 30
2007-12-31 39 1996-12-31 22
2006-12-31 45 1994-12-31 24
2005-12-31 32 1993-12-31 19
2004-12-31 18 1992-12-31 25
2003-12-31 23 1991-12-31 28
2002-12-31 17 1990-12-31 32
[16]
This second chart, shows the rate of children vaccinated after two campaigns held by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), in 2005 and 2010, just one of the interventions that has led to higher immunization numbers in the previous graph. [16]
Vaccination coverage before and after campaign (6-59 m), Ndjamena, Chad [4]
Through this campaign the MSF learned that routine services failed to reach older children who were unvaccinated, while children who were previously vaccinated in 2005 were much easier to reach out to and provide vaccine services to in 2010. Of the children who were unvaccinated, 18% received their first dose of Measles vaccines in 2010 [4].
Chad is the fifth largest country in Africa [25]. It is one of the hottest and one of the least developed countries [22]. The Sahara Desert makes up most of the northern area of the country. In the South, Lake Chad and the rivers flowing to it create a fertile landscape for growing crops and supporting plant and wildlife [19]. The country has a rainy season and goes through droughts on a yearly basis [19]. These conditions make traveling throughout the country long and treacherous. Roads are bumpy and changes in weather can make roads unavailable. This ineffective transportation causes many issues with transporting vaccines. Health centers are limited in number and most families have to travel long distances to get to them. They lack the necessary equipment to store vaccines. The poverty and environment in Chad results in only about one of every five children under the age of 12 getting fully immunized [22].