Kenya Routine Immunization Overview
Aug 6, 2012
Kenya’s national immunization program was one of the most successful in East Africa in the 1990s. In the last ten years, Kenya’s immunization coverage for DTP3 has averaged between 73% and 88%. The drop-out rate nationally was reported at 7% in 2009 (see graph below). Coverage has varied, however, between provinces–with some reporting DTP3 below 70% and with DPT1-DPT3 drop-out rates above 10%. In 2008, a post-election political crisis destabilized the country, particularly in Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces. This resulted in interruption of health services, including vaccination, during that year. There were also vaccine stock-outs in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Additionally, the division of districts and creation of new districts (from 78 to 254) has resulted in problems with denominator calculations and difficulty in ensuring fully functioning District Health Management Teams and services in many of the new districts. The recent creation of two separate health ministries with split program functions has also resulted in managerial and financial complications for preventive services like immunization.