Knowledge, attitude and practice survey on immunization service delivery in Guangxi and Gansu, China

Background: a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey on immunization service delivery among providers and parents was conducted in Guangxi and Gansu, Provinces in China. Purpose: provide baseline information for a health education program. Methods: KAP surveys were conducted in 12 randomly selected counties from high and low quality immunization service delivery area in Guangxi and Gansu Provinces. Caretakers of 2520 children born in 1995 and 637 immunization providers were selected by probability proportional to size sampling. Results: the level of immunization knowledge among parents was positively associated with attitude and practices of immunization. Immunization coverage was 89.3% in the high and 63.8% in the low service areas. Low coverage was associated (p<0.01) with the number of immunization service sessions per year, fee for immunization services and health insurance schemes for immunization services. Conclusions: immunization coverage can be improved by ensuring sufficient immunization service sessions per year, reducing the cost of immunization services and increasing the participation in health insurance schemes for immunization services.