Mirza Inamul Haq, Shahzad Akhtar Aziz, Asim Zulfiqar, Arshad Ali Khan, Sikandar Niazi.
Current maternal attitudes and trends towards vaccination of children in EPI program.
J Rawal Med Coll Jan ;12(2):99-101.

Background : To evaluate the current knowledge and attitude of mothers about early vaccination, to assess the reasons behind the low EPI coverage in rural population and to recommend the measures to improve the EPI coverage . Methods: This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted from May to July 2006 at Rural Health Centre Chauntra . In total 245 mothers were included. The study population was randomly selected among the mothers having at least one child less than 1 year and who visit the facility at least twice in two weeks. SPSS Software was used for data analysis. Result: Findings revealed 70% unvaccinated children belonged to mothers who were uneducated. The majority of the respondents believed Polio to be the most dangerous disease (45%), followed by Pertussis (33%), while Tuberculosis was considered the least dangerous disease (5%). 91% of respondents considered no harm in vaccinating their children if vaccination services were provided at their doorstep Conclusion: The improvement and success of the EPI program requires training of the staff involved in vaccination with stress on motivation and communication skills. The Health education messages need strengthening. Literacy level of females should be improved and parent’s knowledge toward immunization must be enhanced.

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