Stratégies et déterminants de la vaccination au Burkina Faso 1993-2003

Introduction:   Vaccination is one of the most effective and efficient public health interventions. As in most West African countries, Burkina Faso’s national program of vaccination has benefited from the support of numerous international and national initiatives aimed at increasing vaccination coverage. Burkina Faso’s immunization policy has relied on a variety of strategies, such as door-to-door canvassing for vaccination, the “Vaccination Commando” campaign, the Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI), and National Immunization Days. While vaccination coverage of children ages 12–23 months has increased, it has nevertheless remained well below expectations, going from 34.7% in 1993 to 29.3% in 1998 and subsequently rising to 43.9% in 2003. Objective:   The purpose of this thesis is to analyze, at several points in time and on different levels, the factors associated with complete vaccination of children ages 12–23 months in rural areas of Burkina Faso. Methods:   To conduct this research we employed several research approaches and four sources of data: - the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 1998–1999 and 2003; - the Statistical Yearbooks of 1997 and 2002; - individual interviews with decision-makers at the central and regional levels, as well as with field workers in Burkina’s healthcare system; - focus groups and individual discussions with people served by the health centres, or centres de santé et de promotion sociale (the most peripheral level of the health system) and with local health workers.  Quantitative (multilevel) and qualitative approaches provided answers to several questions; our key results are presented in three articles. Results: Article 1: “Individual and living environment factors associated with complete vaccination of children in rural areas of Burkina Faso: a multilevel approach”. In 1998, although the tendency toward vaccination rose significantly with household standard of living and the use of health services, these two variables did not fully explain the differences in vaccination observed between districts. More than 37% of the variation in complete vaccination was attributable to differences between health districts. At this level, even though district resources appeared to play a minor role in vaccination, a 1% increase in the proportion of educated women in the health district increased children’s chances of being completely vaccinated by a factor of 1.14. Article 2: “Rates of coverage and determinants of complete vaccination of children in rural areas of Burkina Faso (1998–2003)”. Between 1998 and 2003, complete vaccination coverage in rural areas rose from 25.9% to 41.2%. While district resources showed no significant impact on complete vaccination, and that of education diminished over time, the standard of living and the experience of using health services, on the other hand, remained the most stable explanatory factors of complete vaccination of children. However, they did not fully explain the differences in complete vaccination that persisted among districts. Despite a trend toward homogenization of districts, 7.4% of the variation in complete vaccination in 2003 was still attributable to differences between health districts. Article 3: “Local vaccination cultures: the role of health workers. A qualitative study in rural areas of Burkina Faso”. Exploration of local vaccination cultures shows that the diseases targeted by the EPI are well known to the population and are classified among diseases of the “white people” that must be treated in the health centre. People use traditional preventive measures, but they attribute the decline in frequency and seriousness of measles, whooping cough and poliomyelitis epidemics to vaccination. Post-vaccination fever and diarrhoea may be perceived either as sign of success or as a contraindication for further vaccination, depending on the views of the local vaccination culture. The two health centres in the study applied the same strategies and faced the same barriers to accessibility. In one of the health zones, vaccination is the best organized, the management committee is committed, and the health worker is more available, interacts better with mothers and makes efforts to be part of the community; this zone exhibits stronger social involvement.  The health worker’s behaviour is a major determinant of local vaccination culture, which in turn influences the performance of the vaccination program. Both professionally and personally, he needs to build a relationship of trust with people that promotes their acceptance of children’s vaccination, as long as the service is available. Supplementary results: Burkina Faso’s EPI is well structured and supported by both a national political commitment and the international community. In addition to persistent disparities in immunization coverage, the program’s sustainability remains a concern shared by all the actors. Conclusion:   Beyond the conclusions specific to each article, this research has enabled us to identify several critical factors that would help to improve EPI performance in Burkina Faso, as well as in comparable countries. The EPI has adequate resources, its technical and programmatic resources are well controlled, and various international initiatives backed by funding agencies have provided effective support. The human factor is crucial: when recruiting health workers, particular attention should be given to having open and empathetic attitudes toward people. There should be enough personnel at the peripheral level, and they must have an effective presence and availability. Relationships with the community should be strengthened by having management committees be more involved in organizing vaccination and by defining more clearly the role of village health workers. These points should become EPI objectives and be subject to appropriate monitoring and evaluation. Lastly, even though making vaccinations free has reduced financial barriers, there are still certain constraints that should be removed to improve access to vaccination services.

Keyphrases: Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso, Eeterminants of vaccination, Child, Rural area, Health system, Local vaccination cultures, Qualitative study, Health centre