ASSESSMENT OF PARENT'S KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND BARRIERS TOWARDS IMMUNIZATION IN THE CHILDREN HOSPITAL, LAHORE

Introduction: It is well said that prevention is better than cure. Childhood immunization prevents the child from infectious disease which may increase the rates of morbidity, mortality and death in under-five year of children. Parent’s knowledge, attitude and barriers towards immunization are the main factors which may influence the immunization status of children. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of parents and the barriers towards immunization that affect the immunization status of child. Methodology: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was done in The Children hospital, Lahore on parents of admitted children. Data was collected from 133 parents through convenient sampling technique by using an adopted questionnaire. Results: the study results show that the majority of the parents have good knowledge and they are concerned about their child immunization and show positive attitude. Meanwhile, the some parents lack knowledge but show little bit positive attitude towards child immunization. On the other side, the parents also show their response about barriers of immunization which cause hindrance in the way of completing their child immunization course. Conclusion: The majority of the parents have knowledge about the significance of immunization. They also show the positive attitude towards immunization of their children. The government should arrange educational campaigns especially for the awareness of mothers at urban and rural level for the progress of immunization. Keywords: Immunization, Attitude, Vaccination, Disease prevention, Infectious diseases, Communicable diseas