Understanding and addressing childhood immunization coverage in urban slums

The National Population Policy (2000) aims at complete protection of all children against vaccine preventable diseases by 2010. Urban poor, many residing in slums, comprise about one-fourth of India’s 285 million urban population. 60% of the children aged 12-23 months in urban India are fully immunized; coverage among urban poor children is a dismal 43%. The inter-state variations of immunization coverage in urban areas, reveals a service coverage gap which calls for a rethink on resource allocation and strengthening processes to improve immunization coverage amongst urban poor.

http://www.indianpediatrics.net/july2005/653.pdf