Disparities in immunization coverage between girls and boys persist despite apparent equity in coverage at the national or global level. Focused efforts to address persistent gender inequities in vaccine coverage are needed. – VoICE
Key Concept

Key Evidence: In India, inequities in vaccination coverage exist between states, within states, and in urban vs. rural settings. Lower parental education resulted in lower coverage, girls had lower coverage than boys and infants born to families with a large number of children also had lower coverage than others. A direct relationship between household wealth and coverage was also found.

Devasenapathy, N., Ghosh Jerath, S., Sharma, S., et al. 2016. Determinants of childhood immunisation coverage in urban poor settlements of Delhi, India: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 6:e013015.
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Key Evidence: A study looking at DHS data from 67 countries found that, globally, girls and boys had the same likelihood of being vaccinated. In some countries where there is known gender inequity and son preference, girls were more likely to not be vaccinated.

Hilber, A. M., Bosch-Capblanch, X., Schindler, C., et al. 2010. Gender and immunisation. World Health Organization.
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Key Evidence: Inequity in vaccination coverage in India was found between states, within states, and in urban vs. rural. Lower parental education resulted in lower coverage, girls had lower coverage than boys, and infants born to families with a large number of children also had lower coverage than others. A direct relationship between household wealth and coverage was also found.

Mathew, J.L. 2012. Inequity in childhood immunization in India: a systematic review. Indian Pediatrics. 49.
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Key Evidence: An analysis of data from India’s National Family Health Survey designed to examine the trends and patterns of inequalities over time showed that, despite a decline in urban-rural and gender differences over time, children residing in rural areas and girls remained disadvantaged. Moreover, regions that had the lowest gender inequality in 1992 showed an increase in gender difference over time. Similarly, urban-rural inequality increased in one region during the 1992–2006 data collection period.

Singh, P.K. 2013. Trends in Child Immunization across Geographical Regions in India: Focus on Urban-Rural and Gender Differences. PLoS ONE. 8(9).
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