Religion, education and child immunization in Ethiopia

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between immunization status of children and religion before and after controlling for other factors such as maternal education in Ethiopia, a country characterized by highest mortality and morbidity rates in the world. Using data from the nationally representative 2000 Demographic and Health Survey, the bivariate results indicated that there are substantial differences in child immunization by maternal religion. More children born to traditional mothers are significantly less likely to receive full immunization coverage than children born to mothers professing Orthodox religion and other religions. The social mechanism that explains this huge disparity is that traditional mothers may be attributable to the traditional spiritual explanation of events, including diseases, and do not believe in the prevention of child-killer diseases. Further, significant variation in receiving complete immunization is observed with mother's level of education, and place of residence (rural/urban).