Abstract:

Background: Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and wide spread vaccination major epidemics occurred approximately every 2-3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year (1). Most economic evaluations of vaccinations focus heavily on the benefits of avoided health care costs Cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) in developing countries find return.The Ministry of Health in Tanzania has been offering vaccinations against measles to all under-five children at maternal and child health clinics for many years. During the 2001 mass immunization week, the age group eligible for measles vaccination was extended to include children up to 15 years of age. The vaccinations were implemented in 13 pilot regions on mainland Tanzania i.e. Arusha, Coast Region, Dodoma, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mwanza, Rukwa, Shinyanga, Singida and Tabora. The impact of this extended age eligibility for measles vaccination on measles morbidity and mortality in Tanzania had not been evaluated (2).

Aim: To assess measles vaccination coverage among under five children aged 09-59 months living at Sombetini and Kaloleni wards in Arusha Town Council, Tanzania.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 10th Sept - 10th Oct 2021. The study had a sample size of 300 sample size people aged between 09-59 months. Data was collected using structured questionnaire. Analysis was done using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 computer programmer. A simple random technique was applied to obtain households and ethical clearance for the study was obtained from Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS).

Result: The overall coverage of measles vaccine was (100%) among 300 participants admitted that their children aged (09-59) months living at Kaloleni and Sombetini ward in studied area have received measles vaccine is mostly due to parents and care taker having knowledge about measles vaccine and other vaccine preventable diseases.

Conclusion: Based on analysis, this study revealed that the overall coverage of measles vaccination is good however the community have to be given much knowledge on measles diseases and other vaccine preventable infections so as to improve vaccination coverage.