title: Perception and practice regarding pulse polio immunisation in an urban community of Calcutta.
abstract: A survey was conducted at an Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme project in North Calcutta among 656 mothers having children less than 3 years of age to assess their perception and practice regarding pulse polio immunisation (PPI). It was revealed that 91.8% of under 3-year children received PPI on 9-12-1995 and 94.4% on 20-1-1996. Major reasons for not accepting the services on those two days included 'mothers unaware' (22%), 'child too small' (30.5%), etc. Major source of first information was television (TV)/radio (57.2%) followed by anganwadi workers (AWWs) (33.8%). However, majority of the mothers were finally motivated for PPI by AWWs (58.8%) followed by the role of TV/radio (34.1%). Although 70.7% mothers knew the name of the vaccine correctly, only 3.5% mothers could tell the exact purpose of its administration. Most mothers (73%) opined that 2 drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) was administered to their children and only 14.6% hoped that such programmes will be conducted by the Government in future. The average waiting time of mothers at immunisation centres was found to be 7.2 minutes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, RG Kar Medical College, Calcutta.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011055:Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011845:Radio; D013690:Television; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D011055:Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral