Immunization coverage in three districts of North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

AIM This community-based study was conducted to assess the progress of Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. METHOD In this cross sectional survey, 120 randomly selected clusters in 03 districts of NWFP were included, 2673 children in the age group 12-35 months of 2583 randomly selected families were visited. RESULTS The results showed that 65% of children were fully immunized, but out of them only half could be verified by immunization, need of 2nd and 3rd dose and no faith in immunization were the major causes of failure of immunization programme. Moreover, mother too busy, absence of vaccinator and inconvenient place of immunization were the obstacles pointed out by the parents. CONCLUSION This study suggests the areas where improvement can be made to achieve the real target of immunization coverage. It is concluded that despite of more than 20 years of efforts by EPI, the ultimate objectives have not been achieved.