EVALUATION OF NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMME IN AND AROUND ELURU.

Manas Ranjan Sahoo; Majeti Srinivasa Rao; Vasundhara Arigela; B.R.K Maharaj; K. Umamaheswara Rao

Volume : IV, Issue : IX, September - 2015

EVALUATION OF NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMME IN AND AROUND ELURU.

Manas Ranjan Sahoo, Majeti Srinivasa Rao, Vasundhara Arigela, B. R. K Maharaj, K. Umamaheswara Rao

Abstract :

<p>Back ground: The urban population is increasing rapidly in India. In urban areas, inspite of multiple agencies providing health care, the immunization coverage was low. Objective: This study has been undertaken to evaluate knowledge and attitude of parents towards National Immunization programme and to assess immunization status of children in the age group between 12 and 23 months in Municipal Corporation of Eluru. Materials and Methods: The present cross sectional study was carried out in urban area under Municipal Corporation of Eluru (MCE) from December 2013 to September 2014 using 30 cluster sampling technique. A total of eight children aged 12&ndash;23 months were interviewed from each cluster on pre tested, predesigned schedule, thus giving us the a total of 240 children will be my sample size and rounding off it to 250 children. Chi square test was applied for statistical analysis. Observations &amp; results: Two hundred and twelve children (84.8%) were found to be fully immunized. Immunization coverage was high for BCG (99.6%) and lowest for DPT&ndash;3 (88.88%). Most common reason (50%) for dropouts was found to be lack of awareness among parents regarding immunization schedule. A strong association between Immunization status and factors like possessing immunization card, literacy of mother, knowledge of parents regarding vaccination, were noted in present study. Conclusion: Considering mothers‘ poor knowledge and good attitude, health education on immunization is emphasized to improve their practices. Increasing the knowledge and understanding of the caretakers of the young children about the essentiality and benefits of routine immunization would be a strong step forward in achieving the goals.</p>