SURVEY ON IMMUNIZATION, DIARRHEAL DISEASE AND MORTALITY IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM

A survey on EPI, CDD, child morbidity, and mortality was conducted in 1988 in one province of northeastern Vietnam. Thirty out of 114 communes were randomly selected for the survey and the interviews were made by 60 students from the provincial nursing school, supervised by 10 teachers. It was found that 23 per cent of the children (n = 211) were fully vaccinated, while 54 per cent had partial coverage. Lack of information or ignorance were the main causes of vaccination failure. The adjusted yearly diarrhoeal rate was 1.6 per child under 5 years of age (n = 9.691). Infant mortality and under-five mortality rates were found to be 28 per thousand live births (95 per cent confidence interval: 21-35; n = 2.321) and 44 (36-52), respectively. High literacy among mothers, good breast-feeding practices, low mortality due to diarrhoea, malaria, and measles, and a well-functioning rural health care system were considered to be the main contributing factors to the low infant mortality. The results also point out the weaknesses in the existing reporting system and indicates the need for follow-up studies.