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Barriers to immunization among children of migrant workers from Myanmar living in Tak province, Thailand

Barriers to immunization among children of migrant workers from Myanmar living in Tak province, Thailand
Barriers to immunization among children of migrant workers from Myanmar living in Tak province, Thailand

Problem: immunization is a cost-effective means of improving child survival but implementation of programmes in low- and middle-income countries is variable. Children of migrants are less likely to be immunized.

Approach: the qualitative study aimed to identify barriers to the successful implementation of migrant immunization programmes in Tak province, Thailand. We ran a total of 53 focus groups involving 371 participants in three sites.

Local setting: Tak province in Thailand borders Myanmar and has an estimated 200,000 migrants from Myanmar. Vaccine-preventable diseases are a documented cause of morbidity in this population but there is no systematic or coordinated immunization programme in the area.

Relevant changes: as a result of the findings, the subsequent immunization campaign targeted children in school to overcome those barriers of distance to immunization services, fear of arrest, not remembering immunization appointments, and the disruption of parental work. The campaigns also included immunization education for both parents and teachers.

Lessons learnt: migrant parents identified similar barriers to accessing childhood immunization programmes as migrant populations elsewhere in the world, although a unique barrier identified by parents from Myanmar was "fear of arrest". The subsequent school-based strategy to overcome these barriers appears to be effective.

Adult, Child, Preschool, Focus Groups, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Immunization Programs/statistics & numerical data, Myanmar/ethnology, Thailand, Transients and Migrants
0042-9686
528-531
Canavati, Sara
f26c1b5f-3b46-4f29-9b0c-68d529b2f60d
Plugge, Emma
b64d2086-6cf2-4fae-98bf-6aafa3115b35
Suwanjatuporn, Suporn
b9e377be-9f41-4522-b405-19fcbf646a10
Sombatrungjaroen, Suteera
782e6687-6b7c-4978-924b-edfdafff7476
Nosten, François
4a9e868e-9b19-49a0-89f8-891ad84886e4
Canavati, Sara
f26c1b5f-3b46-4f29-9b0c-68d529b2f60d
Plugge, Emma
b64d2086-6cf2-4fae-98bf-6aafa3115b35
Suwanjatuporn, Suporn
b9e377be-9f41-4522-b405-19fcbf646a10
Sombatrungjaroen, Suteera
782e6687-6b7c-4978-924b-edfdafff7476
Nosten, François
4a9e868e-9b19-49a0-89f8-891ad84886e4

Canavati, Sara, Plugge, Emma, Suwanjatuporn, Suporn, Sombatrungjaroen, Suteera and Nosten, François (2011) Barriers to immunization among children of migrant workers from Myanmar living in Tak province, Thailand. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89 (7), 528-531. (doi:10.2471/BLT.10.084244).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Problem: immunization is a cost-effective means of improving child survival but implementation of programmes in low- and middle-income countries is variable. Children of migrants are less likely to be immunized.

Approach: the qualitative study aimed to identify barriers to the successful implementation of migrant immunization programmes in Tak province, Thailand. We ran a total of 53 focus groups involving 371 participants in three sites.

Local setting: Tak province in Thailand borders Myanmar and has an estimated 200,000 migrants from Myanmar. Vaccine-preventable diseases are a documented cause of morbidity in this population but there is no systematic or coordinated immunization programme in the area.

Relevant changes: as a result of the findings, the subsequent immunization campaign targeted children in school to overcome those barriers of distance to immunization services, fear of arrest, not remembering immunization appointments, and the disruption of parental work. The campaigns also included immunization education for both parents and teachers.

Lessons learnt: migrant parents identified similar barriers to accessing childhood immunization programmes as migrant populations elsewhere in the world, although a unique barrier identified by parents from Myanmar was "fear of arrest". The subsequent school-based strategy to overcome these barriers appears to be effective.

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BLT.10.084244 - Version of Record
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More information

Published date: 1 July 2011
Keywords: Adult, Child, Preschool, Focus Groups, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Immunization Programs/statistics & numerical data, Myanmar/ethnology, Thailand, Transients and Migrants

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 485246
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/485246
ISSN: 0042-9686
PURE UUID: b3ffa43e-6f97-4789-90b8-db58e3158ad9
ORCID for Emma Plugge: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8359-0071

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 01 Dec 2023 17:46
Last modified: 12 Jul 2024 02:06

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Contributors

Author: Sara Canavati
Author: Emma Plugge ORCID iD
Author: Suporn Suwanjatuporn
Author: Suteera Sombatrungjaroen
Author: François Nosten

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