AWARENESS OF GENERAL PUBLIC TOWARDS POLIO IMMUNIZATION IN RURAL PUNJAB PAKISTAN

Abstract

Background: Poliomyelitis is the acute viral infections of children under the age of five years. Pakistan is among the three countries, along with Nigeria and Afghanistan that are endemic to polio. In 2012, government of Pakistan approved a National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for polio eradication. Parents are reluctant towards immunization due to some religious beliefs. In current study we are accessing the attitude and behavior of general population towards polio vaccination. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted during 2017 in 4 district of Punjab (Faisalabad, Sheikhpura, Kasur and Lahore) Pakistan. The pretested, piloted and validated instrument with a 20 items structured questionnaire was used for this research. The response rate was 84% during the course of Study. Results: In study population 79% of the respondents were well aware of the term Polio. The positive response towards polio immunization was analyzed for only 62% of the parents. 70.46% of the parents strongly agreed with the medical therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of the disease whereas 29.54% of the respondents were found to believe that polio might be caused due to the evil effects Conclusion: Study concluded that the general public is well informed about polio vaccination and giving vaccine to their children on regular basis.