Do places matter? A comparative multilevel analysis of community effects on child immunization in sub-Saharan Africa

Adébiyi Germain Boco, Université de Montréal
Simona Bignami, Université de Montréal

In sub-Saharan Africa, scientific knowledge on how community-level factors influence health care utilization, including immunization for children under 5, remains fragmentary. Using data from the latest round of Demographic Health Surveys for all countries in sub-Saharan Africa that include community-level information, we systematically examine the impact of contextual factors on child immunization coverage. Specifically, we use multilevel logistic regression to assess the influence of ethnic fractionalization, average female education and access to medical facilities on the likelihood of complete child immunization. The results confirm the importance of contextual effects for vaccination coverage net of other factors.