Publication date: Dec 30, 2024

While bacille-calmette-guerin (BCG) vaccination is one of the recommended strategies for preventing tuberculosis (TB), its coverage is low in several countries, including Ethiopia. This study investigated the spatial co-distribution and drivers of TB prevalence and low BCG coverage in Ethiopia. This ecological study was conducted using data from a national TB prevalence survey and the Ethiopian demographic and health survey (EDHS) to map the spatial co-distribution of BCG vaccination coverage and TB prevalence. A Bayesian geostatistical model was built to identify the drivers for the spatial distribution of TB prevalence and low BCG vaccination coverage. BCG vaccination coverage was defined as the number of children who received the vaccine divided by the total number of children born within five years preceding the EDHS surveys. Parameter estimation was done using binary logistic regression. Prediction maps for the co-distribution of high TB prevalence and low BCG vaccination coverage were created by overlying spatial prediction surfaces of the two outcomes. Posterior means and a 95% Bayesian credible interval (CrI) were used to summarize the parameters of the model. The national prevalence was 0. 40% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0. 34%, 0. 47%) for TB and 47% (95% CI 46%, 48%) for vaccination coverage. Substantial spatial variation in TB prevalence and low BCG coverage was observed at a regional and local level, particularly in border areas of the country, including the Somali, Afar, and Oromia regions. Approximately 58% of the pixels (i. e., geographical area or spatial units) with high TB prevalence exhibited low BCG coverage in the same location. While travel time to cities (Mean = 0. 28, 95% BCI: 0. 15, 0. 41) and distance to health facilities (Mean = 0. 43, 95% CI 0. 22, 0. 63), were positively associated, population density (Mean = -0. 04, 95% BCI -0. 05, -0. 02) was negatively associated, with the proportion of unvaccinated children for BCG indicating areas near health facilities and cities have better BCG coverage. However, there were no significant predictors for TB prevalence. Substantial spatial co-distribution between high TB prevalence and low BCG coverage was observed in some parts of the country, indicating that there are areas where the TB burden is not being adequately managed through the provision of vaccines in Ethiopia. Scaling up BCG vaccination coverage and TB diagnosis and treatment through improving access to health services in border regions such as Somalia and Afar would be important to reduce the prevalence of TB in Ethiopia.

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