Poverty and Human Development Report 2009 - UNDP in Tanzania

POVERTY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2009
Immunisation
THMIS 2007/08 survey did not collect immunisation data. The latest estimates from routine
data for the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) implemented by the Ministry of Health
and Social Welfare (MoHSW) indicate a decline in coverage of DPT-Hb3 from the peak of 94%
in 2004 to 83% in 2007, with a small recovery to 86% in 2008 (Figure 21). However, surveybased
estimates of coverage are typically four or five percentage points lower than the routine
data. Thus actual DPT-Hb3 coverage may be poorer. Coverage of measles vaccination, on the
other hand, remains at 90% (2007), most likely due to repeated catch-up campaigns, whereas
DPT-Hb3 depends upon routine administration.
Figure 21: Percentage of Children Under One Year Vaccinated Against DPT and
Hepatitis B with a Third Dose, 2002-08
Coverage (% of children under one year)
58
100%
95%
90%
85%
80%
89% 89%
94%
90%
87%
83%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Source: MoHSW, EPI routine data
Nutrition
Years
86%
DPT-HB3
Nutrition and health are inexorably intertwined. In infants in particular, recurrent illness leads
to malnutrition, and poor nutrition elevates the risk of disease and death. The latest national
estimates of child malnutrition from the TDHS 2004/05 were reported in PHDR 2007. A new
TDHS in 2009/10 will provide updated information.
Data on child malnutrition are summarised in Table 13. The percentage of children under five
years who were stunted declined from 44% in 1999 to 38% in 2004/05; and the proportion
underweight came down from 29.5% to 22%. In the five worst affected regions – Mtwara, Lindi,
Ruvuma, Iringa and Kigoma – more than 50% of children under five years were stunted.
Target