Abstract

Globally, approximately 50% of mortality in children under five years of age results from diseases
that are preventable and treatable if simple and affordable interventions like a vaccine are
utilized. This study aimed at ascertaining the level of child immunization and factors influencing
child immunization in Ishaka Municipality, Bushenyi district. A community based cross sectional
descriptive and analytic study was conducted. Quantitative data collection methods were
employed to collect data from 400 eligible study participants. Simple random sampling technique
was used to select the participants. Pretested closed ended questionnaires were used to collect
the necessary data which was later entered in epi data, exported to STATA 12.0 and analyzed.
The percentage of children that were fully immunized was found to be 56.75%. Comparing the
immunization coverage of children between ages 12-23 months in Ishaka municipality, Bushenyi
district with that of UDHS 2016, the percent of children fully vaccinated is lower by 0.25%. The
significant parent/caretaker factors influencing child immunization were maternal education,
maternal age, and maternal occupation. The maternal health care utilization factors include;
Antenatal Care attendance, distance to health facility, possession of immunization card and
delivery at the health facility. The result of this study has clearly indicated that mothers in Ishaka
municipality have improved on taking their children for immunization. This suggests that
immunization uptake in the western Uganda has improved compared to previous reports.