Journal Article

Study Of Indices Militating on Under-Five Immunization Services in Kontagora Local Government Area, Niger State Nigeria

Abstract

Immunization in Nigeria stands among the leading vital unrestricted health support and an economic approach to curtail both the rate of diseases and deaths related to childhood contagious diseases. Immunization services depend not solely on the rendering of these services but on diverse aspects which include perception, knowledge and compliance of caregivers. The study aims to examine the status of children immunization coverage, determine parents/caregivers' knowledge /awareness, perception influence and assess compliance. This was a cross-sectional study of under-five children aged 0-11 months of six selected wards in Kontagora LGA for five years. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demography, immunization services, parents’ Knowledge/awareness, perception, and compliance from the respondents. The results from 400 hundred respondents indicated that majority of children are not immunized. Pentavalent vaccine administered recorded the highest 365 (91.2%) of under-five children aged 0-11 not-fully immunized and BCG vaccine recorded the highest 165 (49.0%) of under-five children aged 0-11months fully immunized. The majority 215 (54%) have knowledge of immunization services through the media, 198 (49.5%) perceived vaccine side effects on immunization and 140 (35.0%) non-compliance which caused a decline in childhood immunization status. The result of the hypothesis also shows non-statistical significance compliance on immunization schedule (P-value = 0.122, 0.202, 0.106 and 0.401). The study concluded that a large proportion of under-five children were not fully immunized for immunization. Mothers/caregivers’ non-compliance on immunization schedule against the six killer diseases are the reasons acknowledged. The study recommended that continuous and intensive community advocacy through LGAs and PHCs should be embarked upon to improve routine immunization mobilization.

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