POLIO VACCINATION; KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE IN DISTRICT ABBOTTABAD, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN.

Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about poliomyelitis (polio) vaccination in District Abbottabad, province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan, to identify reasons of failure of polio vaccination/ eradication campaign and to make recommendations in the light of the study. Setting: District Abbottabad, province KPK, Pakistan including both urban and rural areas. Period: Three months from 1st June to 31st August 2012. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive explorative study was conducted in District Abbottabad, of province KPK, Pakistan. A structured questionnaire was submitted to people in the urban and rural population using convenient sampling. Out of 200, only 142 questionnaires were filled by interviewing parents and guardians of the children followed by focused group discussions with the community heads and the parents of the children. Results: Majority (61.78%) of respondents were of low income category with the mean age of 31 years. Amongst those (75%) were earning Rs.7,000-12,000 per month. Literacy rate was low with 45.77%. Out of which 40.67% fathers and 59.33% mothers were illiterate. Therefore a few respondents were aware about the mode of transmission of polio. Majority (80%) said that polio could be prevented by polio drops and about 86% said that this vaccine had no side effects. About 45% respondents refused to cooperate with polio teams, and 28% respondents believed, that Abbottabad Operation had bad effect on anti-polio campaign. Regarding the use of boiled drinking water, 95.8% respondents knew that it was good for health. While only 4.20% were using boiled water for drinking. Advice of the health professionals (69.71%) and other family members (7.74%) was respected in making health care decisions, therefore it was an opportunity for the government to involve these persons as well as media men in conveying message to the community to achieve ultimate goal of polio free Pakistan. Conclusions: Unawareness among the population of District Abbottabad, especially the knowledge about the disease, mode of transmission and its prevention are the most deficient areas. Secondly misconceptions about the nature of polio drops, and religious misinterpretations in masses, created by general public and religious leaders, are the major obstacles in the real success of vaccination campaign.