Volume 30 - Article 67 | Pages 1825–1848  

Gender differentials in the timing of measles vaccination in rural India

By Anu Rammohan, Niyi Awofeso, Kazi Iqbal

Abstract

Background: Measles is a highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease. Gender differences in measles vaccination outcomes have been widely reported in India.

Objective: An overlooked factor is whether female children are less likely to be vaccinated age-appropriately.

Methods: In this paper we use data from the nationally representative 2008 District Level Household Survey (DLHS) to analyse if there are any gender differences in the propensity to vaccinate a child for measles, and, among the vaccinated sample, whether there are any gender differences in the probability of age-appropriate measles vaccination.

Results: Our analysis confirms that girls have both a significantly lower probability of being vaccinated and of being vaccinated age-appropriately.

Author’s Affiliation

• Anu Rammohan - University of Western Australia, Australia EMAIL
• Niyi Awofeso - University of Western Australia, Australia EMAIL
• Kazi Iqbal - Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Burkina Faso EMAIL

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