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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Glob. Womens Health
Sec. Sex and Gender Differences in Disease
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2024.1337553
This article is part of the Research Topic Response, Recovery, and Resilience: Mainstreaming Gender Responsive Programming Within Immunization Systems in Low-and Middle-income Countries View all 6 articles

Impact of Gender-Biased Parental Perceptions on Under-Immunization in Eastern Sudan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Malaz S. Abdallah Malaz S. Abdallah 1Taqwa Jumma Taqwa Jumma 1Yasir A. Elhadi Yasir A. Elhadi 2Majdi M. Sabahelzain Majdi M. Sabahelzain 1,3*
  • 1 Public Health Department, School of Health Sciences, Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan
  • 2 Global Health Focus, Khartoum, Sudan
  • 3 School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite global efforts, inequities in vaccine uptake remain, influenced by socioeconomic, geographic, cultural, and gender-related factors. In Eastern Sudan, gender disparities are acknowledged, particularly in livelihoods, but their impact on vaccination uptake is unclear. This study aimed to assess the effect of gender-biased parental perceptions on under-immunization among children in Kassala, Eastern Sudan. This study was a community-based cross-sectional in rural and urban districts of Kassala locality in Kassala State, Eastern Sudan in November 2022. Data were collected from parents using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire. The Chi-square or Fisher's exact test was conducted to assess the factors associated with under-immunization among children. Data were collected from 400 parents. Our data reveal that most children were fully vaccinated with the three doses of the pentavalent vaccine (83%), while 14% were partially vaccinated. Findings showed that about one in five parents perceived male vaccination as more important than female vaccination. This parental perception of gender-based importance in vaccination was significantly associated with under-immunization among children (p-value = 0.049). Additionally, males in our study are fully vaccinated 5% more often than females. Socio-economic factors, including mothers’ education and households’ income level, were also significantly associated with the vaccination status of the children. This study shed light on the effect of gender norms and related determinants on equitable access to vaccinations for boys and girls alike. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of the gender norms related to vaccination and their long-term impact on immunization demand and resilience in this region.

    Keywords: Gender norms, Vaccination, Under-immunization, Kassala, Sudan. (Min.5-Max. 8)

    Received: 13 Nov 2023; Accepted: 16 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Abdallah, Jumma, Elhadi and Sabahelzain. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Majdi M. Sabahelzain, Public Health Department, School of Health Sciences, Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan

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