IMMUNIZATION Report on Knowledge Attitudes and Practices-Implementers

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IMMUNIZATION

Report on knowledge, attitudes and
practices - Implementers
FEBRUARY 1988

2. i

-

f 4 i

•Prepared for UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND
By INDIAN MARKET RESEARCH BUREAU
DELHI
IMRB/RI/HV/40396

BflW
Indian Market Research Bureau

CONTEXTS
Page
No.

NOTE ON THE REPORT
SUMMARY

i

iii

detailed findI\GS
1.0

IMMUNIZATION

1.1

The immunization schedule

1.1.1

Awareness of vaccines

1

1.1.2

Details regarding each vaccine

4

1.2

Diseases prevented by vaccines

1.3

Symptoms of diseases and perceptions

1.3.1

Polio

1.3.2

Diphtheria

1.3.3
1.3.4

Pertussis
Tetanus

1.3.5
1.3.6

Tuberculosis
Measles

2.0

PRACTICE-RELATED KNOV/LEDGE

2.1

Contraindications

2.1.1

Cough and cold

2.1.2

Diarrhoea and vomiting
Fever below 100°F

2.1.3
2.1.4
2.1.5
2.1.6
2.2
2.3

Eever above 100° F
Malnut rition

16

18
20

22
24
25
27

29
30
31

31

Skin diseases and boils

32
32
33

Maintainence of vaccines

34

Number of recipients needed to
open a vial

39

D
D.
Indian Market Research Bureau

Page
No.

2.4

Left over vaccines

42

2.5

Case-studies

45

2.5.1

45

2.5.2

Multiple vaccines at a time
Measles vaccine

3.0

PROGRAMME

3.1

Targets

53

3.1.1

Coverage targets

3.1.2

Period for targets

53
54

3.2

Appraisal of own centre

58

3.2.1

59

3.2.2

Reasons for excellent - very good
Reasons for 'good' rating

62

3.3

Special training for immunization

65

4.0

UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE

4.1

Decision makers in the family

69

4.1.1

Immunization of the child
TT for pregnant woman

69

4.1.2

4.1.3

48

70

Taking the child to a doctor in
the village

71

4.1 .4

Taking a child to a town doctor

72

4.1.5

Taking the child to a local faith
healer

73

Peoples' attitudes to immunization

74

4.2

Indian Market Research Bureau

APPENDICES

Posters

Appendix I
Appendix II

Mother & dead child
Father and child

Appendix III -

Polio boy standing

Appendix IV

Polio boy crawing

-

Appendix V

TB-node on neck

Appendix VI
Appendix VII -

TT-bandaged head
TT-tube in nose

Appendix VIII -

Questionnaire

Indian Market Research Bureau

Page
No.

4.3

Assessment of overall attitudes
of the people

78

4.3.1

Analysis of statement 1

4.3.2

Analysis of statement 2

78
79

4.4

Refusals

85

4.4.1

Profile of the refuser

87

4.4.2

Reasons for refusal

88

4.4.3

Possible methods of persuasion

90

4.5

Attitudes of the implementers

92

4.5.1

Implementers attitude to his work

92

4.5.2

Understanding the attitudes of the
people

94

4.5.3

Knowledge regarding immunization
Practices

97

102

4.7

Bringing the child for immunization
Keeping track of due dates

5.0

PRACTICE RELATED ISSUES

5.1

Preservation of vaccines for out­
reach sessions

5.1.1

Transportation

106

5.1.2

Placement of vaccines during an
immunization session

108

4.5.4

4.6

99

103

5.2
5.2.1

Sterilization
Place

110

5.2.2

Method

111

5.3

Availability of consumables

114

110

Indian Market Research Bureau

Page
No.
5.3.1

DPT vaccine

114

5.3.2

TT vaccine

115

5.3.3

OPV vaccine

115

5.3.4

Measles vaccine

115

5.3.5

Vaccine cards

5.3.6

BCG vaccine

116
117

5.4

Posters/Tin plates

5.4.1

5.4.3

Receipt of posters/tin plates
Type of posters received
Rating of posters

122

5.5

Problems in practice

126

5.5.1

No problems

126

5.5.2

Obstacles to the work

127

5.6

Areas of improvement

129

6.0

MEDIA

6.1

Main sources of information for
villagers

133

Information regarding national
happenings

133

Information regarding district
level happenings

134

Information about happenings in
neighbouring villages

135

Information regarding health teams
visit

137

5.4.2

6.1.1
6.1.2
6.1.3
6.1.4

6.2
6.3

Mass media

Messages that would convince

119
121

139
141

BfflW
Indian Market Research Bureau

NOTE ON THE REPORT

The report has been divided into six major sections.
These are :
Immunization

Practice-related knowledge

Programme
Understanding the people

Practice related issues
Media
In each section, comments have been made for all res­
pondents as a whole.

Where relevant, specific details

have been provided for districts, metros, doctors,
workers, types of health centres and specific districts
or metros.

Complete data is available in computer printouts.

The top breaks used have been clubbed together in 3
different printouts, as follows :
A

Total
District

B

. Metro

. Doctor

. Worker

Total
Government hospital/dispensary

9

. Private practitioner/dispensary
categories
C

PHO . PHS
. Performance

Total

12 individual districts

.

individual metros

Indian Market Research Bureau

ii

All through the report, districts have been marked

with a special sign to indicate performance category.
Three signs have been used. These are :
*

Good performance district

Medium performance district
o

Poor performance district

The performance levels of each of the 12 districts
are as follows :
Good +

Hamirpur
Gwalior
Nanded

Anantpur

Medium

Allahabad
Iddukki

Puri

Kheda

Poor o

i

Bharatpur
Madurai

!

Nadia
Purnia

e

Indian Market Research Bureau

SUMbMARY

w

Indian Market Research Bureau

iii

1.0

IbfUJNIZATION

1.1

The immunization schedule
The five vaccines that comprise the immunization
schedule were well known to implementers.

Within

these, DPT and OPV vaccines were the best known
(96% and 94% respectively of all respondents

mentioned these spontaneously).

With help, all 5 vaccines were recognized by over
95% of all respondents as being part of the
schedule.

Awareness levels in the North zone

were marginally lower than those in the other
zones.

Detailed knowledge pertaining to each of the
vaccines was as follows :
No. of
doses

Target
recipient

TT

2 dose
(80%)

Pregnant
woman (99%)

BCG

1 dose
(98%)

Child aged
below one
year (96%)

Before
3 months
age (85%)

DPT

3 doses
(92?o)

Child age
below one
year (97%)

3 months
(63%)

1 month
(69%)

OPV

3 doses
(85%)

Child aged
below one
year (98%)

3 months
(63%)

1 month
(73%)

Measles 1 dose
(98%)

Child aged
below one
year (95%)

9 months
(67%)

Earliest
age

Interval

Indian Market Research Bureau

iv

1.2

Diseases prevented by the vaccines
Implementers had correct knowledge with regard to the

diseases prevented by each vaccine.

The only weak

link was that about 15% of the respondents did not

spontaneously associate the DPT vaccine with prevention
of tetanus.
1.3

Symptoms of diseases and perceptions of seriousness
Polio was associated with paralysis of the affected

limb, fever and headache.

Over 65% of all respon­

dents believed that polio was very serious; another
36% felt that it was serious.

Diphtheria was associated with swelling and/or a white

membrane in the throat and fever, cough and cold.

74%
of all respondents believed that diphtheria was a very

serious disease; 24% felt that it was serious.
Pertussis was associated with constant coughing and a

whoop during the cough,

42% of respondents considered

the disease to be very serious while 47% felt that it
was serious.

Tetanus was associated with the body becoming rigid,
the jaw getting locked and with convulsions.

84% of

all respondents believed that this disease was very
serious.

Indian Market Research Bureau

V

Tuberculosis was associated with persistent cough
and fever, weight loss and fatigue.

42% considered

TB to be very serious whereas 45% considered it to

be serious.

Measles was associated with fever, rash, cough and
watery eyes.

35% of the respondents felt that the

disease was very serious while 45% felt that it was

serious.

14% said that it was not serious.

2.0

PRACTICE RELATED KNOWLEDGE

2.1

Contraindications
Fever, cough and cold and diarrhoea/vomiting were

seen as contraindications to vaccination.

Fever of

over 100°F was seen as a contraindication for DPT
vaccine (95%), OPV vaccine (63%) and measles (63%).

Diarrhoea and vomiting were seen as contraindications
for the OPV vaccine by over 75% of all respondents.
TT was one vaccine that was relatively unhindered

by contraindications.

24% of all respondents

believed that there were no contraindications to the
TT vaccine.

Skin diseases and boils were seen as contraindications
for DPT, BCG and measles vaccines by nearly one-third
of all respondents.

Malnutrition, on the other hand

was mentioned as a contraindication by only 18% - 20%

of all respondents.

Indian Market Research Bureau

vi

2.2

Maintainence of vaccines - Temperature

Only 44.6?o of all respondents could state the correct
temperature at which vaccines would need to be stored

namely, +4°C to +8°C, 29% gave an incorrect answer
while 26% said that they did not know, Correct
responses came more from doctors than from workers.
The error was made mainly on the side of lower tem­

peratures, including temperatures at freezing point

and below.

Very few respondents spoke of storing

vaccines at temperatures higher than +8°C.
2.3

Number of recipients needed to open a vial
On an average, implementors said that 6 recipients
would be needed for them to open a ten-dose vial.
There was a difference in the responses given by
doctors and workers.

32?6 of doctors said that one

child would be sufficient reason to open a 10 dose
vial.

The mean was 5.1 children.

Workers, on

the other hand, tended to wait for larger numbers and

required an average of 7.1 children in order to open

a 10-dose vial.

There was a difference in the

responses between PHC and sub-centre respondents.

At the PHCs the single largest response favoured one
child as being sufficient for opening a 10-dose vial;

at the sub-centre, the response centred around 8
children.

JM D
D

Indian Market Research Bureau

vii

2.4

Left-over vaccines

If more than | a vial of vaccine was left over, both

doctors and workers would tend to put it back for
re-use.

If less than | a vial was left over, doctors

would tend to throw it away while workers would tend

to put it back.

DPT and TT vaccines would have a greater chance of

being put back in the refrigerator while measles and
BCG vaccines would tend to get thrown away.

OPV

vaccines were not clearly in any one category but,
in the final analysis, would stand a greater chance

of being put back than of being thrown away.
2.5

Case-studies
A couple of hypothetical situations were studied to

obtain an insight into the extent to which correct
immunization practices had been understood.

In one case, respondents were asked to assume that a
child's third dose of DPT/OPV had been delayed to the
age when the child would also be eligible for the

measles vaccine.

Respondents were asked if they would

give all three vaccines together under the circumstances.
50% of the respondents said that they would do so, 45%
said that they would not do so.

Willingness to give 3

vaccines together was higher at the district level

than at the metro level.

RD

w

Indian Martel Research Bureau

Vlll

The main reason for not being willing to do so was the

fear of unusually strong side effects or other

reactions.

The other situation pertained to the measles vaccine.

Respondents were asked if, in a situation where the

parents of a child said that the child had already had
an attack of measles, they would give the measles
vaccine nevertheless or refrain from doing so.
so.

73%

of all respondents said that they would not give a

measles vaccine under those circumstances, the main
reason being that natural immunity would have been

developed with the measles attack.

3.0

PROGRAMME

3.1

Targets
71% of all respondents said that the immunization
target was that 75% of all eligible infants and pregnant
women were to be vaccinated in that year.

64% of the respondents were aware that these targets
had to be maintained for the future.

The others either

felt that these targets were only for 1987 (21%) or

did not know.

Indian Market Research Bureau

ix

Within those who did not know that the immunization
programme was of long-term duration, only 43% were
aware that it would be a continuous process.

The

others assumed varying durations ranging from 2 years

to 20 years.

3.2

Appraisal of own centre
16% of respondents rated their own centre’s performance

as being excellent, 30% said their performance was very

good while 42% felt that it was good.

8%rated their

performance as being fair to poor.

There were two types of explanations given for the
ratings; one was a justification of the rating per se

while the other was an explanation of the performance.

Positive ratings were justified by respondents on the
basis of a good proportion of the target having been
achieved and ’many' children having been vaccinated.
Good-excellent performance was spontaneously attri­

buted to the following factors :
cooperation received from the people

positive attitudes of workers
regular supply of vaccines.
The factors that were spontaneously mentioned to explain

a negatively rated performance were :

Indian Market Research Bureau

X

lack of education/understanding among the people
and the need for extensive persuasion

infrastructural problems

fear of side effects
3.3

Special training
53% of all respondents (7O?6 of workers at the district

level) said that they had received special training
for immunization.

Of those who said that training had been received,
almost all (93%) expressed satisfaction with the

training.

The training manual had been seen by 62% of all res­
pondents; illustrations were recalled by an additional
4% .

Only 48% of all respondents currently possessed

the manual.

The large majority (83%) agreed that the

manual would be useful.

Awareness and current possession

of the manual was higher amongst workers than amongst

doctors.

4.0

UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE

4.1

Decision makers in the family
The decision maker in the family on the subject of

getting a child immunized was seen as being the mother

Indian Market Research Bureau

xi

by 75% of all respondents,

On the subject of giving

the TT injection to a pregnant woman, 59% said that the
woman concerned would take the decision while 23%
felt that her husband would be the decision-maker,

11%

felt that the female elder in the family would be the
decision maker.

If a child had to be taken to the village doctor (or a
nearby doctor), 49% felt that the decision would be

taken by the mother while 36% felt that it would be the

father's decision.

If, however, a child had to be

taken to a doctor in the town (or a doctor who lived
far away), 61% felt that the decision would be taken by
the father.

Decisions to take a child to the local faith healer
were believed to be taken mainly by the women in the

family - the elder women (45%) or the child’s mother
(27%).
4.2

People's attitudes to immunization
A child’s parents were seen to be unambigously in
favour of immunization,
of all respondents.

This was the opinion of 93%

Grandparents however, were seen to favour immunization
by only 59% of all respondents.

17% felt that grand­

parents were opposed to immunization while 19% felt their
attitude was one of indifference.

MB
Indian Market Research Bureau

xii

The others in the village who were clearly seen to be

in favour of immunization were the school teacher
(92%), the village midwife (83%) and the village

chief (82%).

Village elders were seen to have a

favourable attitude by only 75% of the respondents.

The faith healer was believed to be clearly opposed
to immunization (39%) or indifferent to it (14%).

Workers felt more strongly than doctors that
elders were opposed to immunization. Assuming that

workers are closer to people and therefore have a
better understanding of the situation, it would be
prudent to tailor communication such that it reaches
out to and convinces the older generation.
4.3

Assessment of overall attitudes of the people
In terms of awareness of immunization, 88% of the

respondents believed that most people in their

territory were aware of immunization.

81% also said

that most people were cooperative and willing.

However, when negative statements were read out,
they were not opposed strongly.

Thus, 55% of the

respondents agreed that some people were indifferent
and 53% agreed that people had to be coaxed.
The

contradiction implicit in this tendency to
agree with positive and (to a lesser extent)

1WJ

Indian Market Research Bureau

xiii

negative statements reveals a higher level of dis­

content than was willingly admitted to.

We conclude

that there was in fact greater resistance to immu­
nization than would be immediately apparent.
4.4

Refusal
On being directly questioned, over 50% of the respon­
dents said that some people did refuse vaccinations.
There was a slightly higher level of refusals reported

by district level workers.

The persons who refused vaccinations were predominantly

described as people who were illiterate or uneducated.

Backward classes, labourers and poor people were other
descriptions used to describe the typical refusers.

The most important reasons attributed to such

refusals were :

lack of education and belief in vaccines
fear of fever and/or adverse reactions
traditional beliefs.
Implementers felt that if people had to be effectively

persuaded on the subject of infant immunization, this
would have to be done by means of education through
personal contact and documentary films.

U K\j

Indian Market Research Bureau

xi v

4.5

Attitudes of implementers

Implementer attitudes were measured by means of a
senes of statements which respondents could agree or
disagree with. The statements, and the proportion of

respondents who expressed agreement with that statement,
are being presented below
% who
agreed

Attitude to work

1.

2.
3.

4.
5.
6.

7.

Convincing people to get their child
immunised is frustrating work

27

This job involves important and useful
work

99

Working with illiterate people can be
boring and tiring

41

I would prefer to work in a town rather
than in a village

40

People here do not really believe that
vaccinations can prevent disease

14

People suspect that vaccinations are
not given for the prevention of disease
but some other motive

16

Once a child has been vaccinated people
will come forward on their own to get
their next child vaccinated

89

Knowledge regarding immunization

8.

TT and DPT vaccines should not be
allowed to freeze

75

[WE
Ho

Indian Market Research Bureau

XV

% who
agreed
9.

Keeping vaccines at room tempera­
ture for 2-3 hours is okay

24

Practices

10.

11.

The cold chain system beyond HQ
is very weak and breaks down easily

45

Most vaccines loose potency because
it is impossible to maintain them
at the correct temperature

62

99% of all respondents revealed that the child was

normally brought for immunization by the mother.

Mothers kept track of due dates on the basis of immuni­
zation record cards or on the basis of fixed days which
would be advertised.

Alternately, workers took the

responsibility of reminding parents on the due date or
actually taking the vaccination to the house of the

child.

The former (mother-oriented) memory system was

more prevalent except for three districts - Purnia,
Nadia and Nanded where the latter (worker-oriented)
memory system was more prevalent.

In metros, the onus

of remembering dates rested almost entirely with the

mother.
5.0

PRACTICE RELATED ISSUES

5.1

Preservation of vaccines for outreach sessions

Two out of three respondents transported vaccines to
outreach session well protected in ice.

The responses

Indian Market Research Bureau

xvi

given by the balance one-third could be interpreted

It is difficult therefore to reach a

either way.

clear conclusion on this issue.

During the session, 82% of the respondents reported

preservation practices that would be acceptable.
These were of keeping the vial in a cup of ice, on

top of an ice-pack, on a plastic bag filled with ice

or back in the vaccine carrier itself.

The remaining

18% respondents reported practices that would not be
acceptable such as putting the vial on the table, in
a cup of water or in the shade.

5.2

Sterilization
Needles and syringes were sterilized by some respon­

dents at the health centre and by others at the out­
reach camp.
measure.

Both practices were reported in equal

The majority (77%) sterilized instruments

before the session while others, (20%) did so during
the sessions.

Sterilization was mostly ’achieved1 by boiling the
instruments. The error however lay in the under­
standing of time required to achieved sterilization.

Inquiry revealed that 50% of all respondents boiled
instruments for 20 minutes or less and these 20 minutes
included the time taken for water to reach boiling

point.

Only 15?6 used the autoclave method for

sterilization.

E.'dB.

Indian Market Research Bureau

xvii

5.3

Availability of consumables

There appeared to be no problems in terms of availa­

bility of consumables.

The two items in which some

availability problems were reported were vaccine

cards and the BCG vaccine.

Over 20% of respondents

in 6 out of 12 districts reported irregular supply of
the vaccine.
5.4

Posters/tin plates

80% of all respondents (91% - 95% at the PHC and PHC
levels, respectively) reported receipt of tin plates

and posters.

Doctors and workers in districts

reported that an average of 117 posters/tin plates had

been received.

In metros, on the other hand, an

average of 23 posters/tin plates were reported

received by each respondent.

There were wide

variations in numbers received between districts.

Some districts such as Bharatpur0 and Allahabad* reported
high receipts (an average of 335 and 245 respectively)
while others reported considerably lower receipts (6 in

Gwalior*,10 in Nanded*).

There were seven basic pictures and messages,

Data on

posters/tin plates received revealed that the types
were equally distributed.
Respondents were asked to rate each poster on a scale

ranging from poor to excellent.

The two pictures that

IMH D
D

Indian Market Research Bureau

xviii

received the highest rating both pertained to polio.
It is hypothesized that the combination of familiarity
of the disease and the dread of disability made these
posters most effective.
The second highest rating was received by two posters toother and dead child' and 'tetanus picture of infant
with bandaged head'.

The lowest ratings were given to three posters Tetanus - child with tube in the nose', 'TB-node

on neck' and 'Father and healthy child'.

This rating bears out the hypothesis that posters,

in order to be effective, need to have three

characteristics - familiarity, probability of
occurence and dread as perceived by the target
audience.

5.5

Problems in practice
One out of three respondents said that they had no

problems that caused any obstruction to their work.
The others however did speak of problems. The first
five problems that were mentioned were as follows,
in order of frequency of mention

xW

Indian Market Research Bureau

xix

Transportation problem
Resistance from people
Problems regarding vaccine supplies
Cold chain maintainence
Shortage of workers

5.6

Areas if improvement

Upon being asked, respondents ranked possible improve­
ment areas as follows :
information to people about immunization

supply of vaccines
cold chain maintainence

Doctors spoke more in terms of cold chain maintainence,
supply of vaccines and system of travel; workers

wanted improvement in the system of travel, supply of

vaccines and in reduced ratios of people : Centres.

6.0

MEDIA

The main sources by which people in villages heard
of happenings outside their village differed by the
type of news in question.

National happenings were heard of through national

media. These were the radio (87%), newspapers (65%)
and television (52%).

BfflB
Indian Market Research Bureau

XX

District level happenings were heard of mainly

through the newspaper (52%) followed by the radio
(38?i). Word-of-mouth, particularly in terms of news
brought by travellers, accounted for an additional
20% of the reported sources.
Personal contact either with travellers or visitors

from neighbouring villages accounted for most of the

news that was received about events in neighbouring
villages. News about events in nearby villages was

disseminated by means of announcements, proclamations
made by village elders or chiefs and by means of
posters and leaflets.

Information regarding the visit by a health team was
given by health workers or the ANNS, Visits were
announced over megaphone; the services of village

chiefs were also taken for the purpose. In addition,
notices, pamphlets or posters were sometimes used.
In terms of the overall penetration and credibility

of mass media, the radio ranked highest followed by
cinema.

66% of the implementers said that radio was

most likely to reach village people and 73% said that
the people believed in the news given by the radio.

Cinema was believed to reach people (42%

of the

implementers said so) and was credible (56%). Posters
had higher reach than newspapers but newspapers were
more credible than posters.

Indian Market Research Bureau

xxi

Messages that would convince

Finally implementers were asked for their suggestions
on messages that would convince people to get their
child immunized.

The main suggestions were as follows :

explain advantages of vaccination
give health education to parents
name the diseases that can be prevented and
explain these

explain the consequences of not vaccinating a
child

Indian Market Research Bureau

DETAILED FINDINGS

Indian Market Research Bureau

1.0

IMMUNIZATION

1.1

The immunization schedule

1.1.1

Awareness of vaccines
All respondents were asked to talk of the immunization
schedule as known to them. They were assisted by a
series of questions, starting with a question on the

names of the various vaccines that would form part of
the immunization schedule.

Spontaneous mention of vaccine names were as follows :
(Base : 312)
Rank
Name
Total
Highest mention
O'
'0

1

DPT

96.2

PHC = 100%, South zone

99%

2

OPV

94.2

PHC = 97%, North zone

97%

3

Measles

87.8

PHC = 98%, West zone

97%

4

BCG

83.3

PHC = 98%, West zone

92?6

5

TT

79.2

Govt Hospitals South zone = 90%

6

Others

39.4

PHS - 53%, East zone = 56%

88%

Ref : Tables B-8, C-9
BCG was spontaneously mentioned more often by workers
than by doctors at the district level (90% workers :

80% doctors).

The

inverse was true for the metros

(57% workers : 7O?6 doctors).

TT was spontaneously mentioned as part of the schedule

by only 79?o of all respondents.

Doctors, especially

Indian Market Research Bureau

2

at the metro level, mentioned TT more often than

workers.

(80% doctors : 78% workers;

At the

metro level the ratio was 74% doctors : 62%

workers).

In the South zone 90% of all respondents mentioned
TT; the figures for the other three zones are
North zone - 79%; East zone - 79%; West zone

75?6.

Other vaccinations (over and above these five)

were mentioned as part of the schedule by 39?6
of all respondents.

This implies inaccurate

knowledge and probably, some guesswork.

Other

vaccinations were mentioned significantly more
often by workers (76%) than by doctors (24%).

They were also mentioned more often in the

East zone districts.

Respondents were then prompted on

the vaccines

that they had not mentioned to see if they
were at all aware of the vaccine as being part
of the immunization schedule.

Total awareness of vaccines was as follows :
Name of
vaccine

(Base : 312)
Total
-

TT

97.4

Remarks

Low amongst metro workers : 81?6

Low in Hamirpur* (85%) and
Nanded (95?6)

hmw
Indian Market Research Bureau

3

Name of
vaccine

Total

BCG

95.8

Low in North zone : 86% and
amongst private practitioners : 81%

DPT

98.4

Low amongst metro workers : 95%

Remarks

Low in Hamirpur* (85%) and Nadia0 (96%)
OPV

99.0

Low amongst metro workers (95?o)
Government hospitals 97%)

Measles

95.5

Low amongst private practioners (85%),
metro workers (81%), Hamirpur* (80%),
Nadia0 (92%)

Ref : Tables B-9, C-9
The factors that emerge as being significant are :

Metro workers do not seem to be fully conversant

with the immunization schedule.

Hamirpur implementers, inspite of belonging to a
"good category” district, reveal a surprising

lack of awareness.

The South, East and West zone districts emerge

as being more aware of the vaccines in the
immunization schedule than the North zones.

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Indian Market Research Bureau

Total Awareness

North

South

East

West

O'
/0

%

O'
/O

O'
'0

TT

95

100

100

99

BCG

86

100

99

97

OPT

95

100

99

100

OPV

100

99

99

100

Measles

93

99

96

100

Vaccine

Ref: Table C-9

1.1.2

Details regarding each vaccine

a/

Tetanus Toxoid

i/

No. of doses

TT

80% of all respondents said that TT vaccine was
a 2-dose course.

There were wide variations in the understanding
of the number of doses.

93.5% of PHC respondents and 94.5% of PHS respon­
dents spoke of tetanus as being a 2-dose course

In contrast, only 40% of private practitioners
mentioned 2 tetanus doses; 44.7% of them mentioned

3 doses.

This emphasis on 3 doses was revealed by 50% of
all respondents in Iddukki .

spoke of 3 doses.

In Gwalior*, 18%

However, in all other districts,

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over 80% of all respondents thought of TT vaccine in
terms of 2 doses.

In metros, however, TT was not always thought of in
terms of 2 doses.

59.3% of doctors and 35% of workers

in metros spoke of 2 doses; 47% of workers in metros
spoke of 3 doses.

In summary the views on TT doses were as follows :

2 doses

80% of all respondents particularly from

districts, from PHCs and PHSs.
3 doses

13.8% of all respondents, particularly

from Iddukki ; workers in four metros and
some private practitioners thought of TT

in terms of 3 doses.

1 dose

Mentioned by only 6?6 of all respondents.

Greater emphasis on one dose in Bharatpur0
and Allahabad

districts, amongst doctors

and workers in metros and amongst private

practitioners.

The widespread perception amongst implementers of TT

as a 2-dose vaccine was in contrast to the understanding
held by mothers who thought of TT essentially in terms
of 3 doses.

U t\\J D)
Indian Market Research Bureau

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ii/

Target recipient

TT

On this subject there was little or no argument.
99?o of all respondents said that the TT vaccine was
for pregnant women.
women.

The three respondents who

did not specify were 2 doctors from the East zone
and one worker from a metro.
b/

BCG

i/

No. of doses

BCG

BCG was predominantly seen as a one-dose vaccine
(98.3%).

Only a couple of workers at the PHC/PHS

level mentioned 2 doses.
ii/

Target recipient - BCG

96% of respondents said that the BCG vaccine was
meant for a child aged below one year. 11.7% said

it was for a child above one year.

There is

therefore an overlap of 7.7% which is the proportion

of respondents who mentioned both below 1 year and
above 1 year.

These were mostly from Gwalior*

(41% overlap) Nanded*(23.8% overlap), and
Purnea

(17.4% overlap).

Private practitioners

and workers in metros mentioned both age groups
more often than others.

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Indian Market Research Bureau

7

Looking at this in conjunction with the earlier

statement, namely that BCG was seen as a one-dose
vaccine by 98% of all respondents indicates clearly
that respondents were not thinking in terms of

booster doses.

They were instead revealing a

lackadaisical attitude where their response would
have been that either below one year or above one

year would be a suitable age for the BCG vaccine.
iii/

Earliest age

BCG

The majority of the respondents believed that BCG
vaccine was to be given by the age of 3 months

(85.3%).

Half of all respondents said the vaccine

was due before 2 months of age; 35.5% said it was
due at 3 months.

Government hospitals and private practitioners were

in favour of BCG at below 2 months age; PHC and
PHS respondents were in favour of the age of 3 months.

Over two-thirds of respondents from Allahabad+,

Purnia0, Pun+ and Nanded* were in favour of BCG at
3 months.

At the district level, doctors (61%) spoke of BCG
before 2 months while workers (48%) spoke of BCG

at 3 months; in the metros, both doctors (82%) and

workers (74%) spoke of BCG being due before the age
of 2 months.

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c/

DPT

1/

No. of doses - Dpj

DPT vaccine was known to be a 3 dose vaccine.
was stated by 92% of all respondents.

This
In Nadia0 and

Hamirpur* districts a few respondents mentioned 4
doses.

However, their numbers were small.(3.6%). Four

dises, when mentioned were usually from PHCs

at the district level.

Workers at the metro level, particularly in Calcutta

mentioned 5 doses of the DPT vaccine.
Target recipient

- DPT

The target recipient was mostly seen as a child

below one year (96.7%).

In the metros, (and to

some extent in the districts) there was additional
mention of a child above one year.
(%)
Total

District

Metro

Doctor

Worker

307
96.7

260
96.9

47
95.7

114
96.5

96.9

14.3

11.9

27.6

17.6

12.4

Base: All aware

of DPT
Both below
1 year and
above 1 year

193

Ref : Table A-16
All doctors from metros who were aware of DPT mentioned
the pre-one year old as the target recipient.

In addition,

29.6% mentioned the post-one year old too.

>TD

LSLW

Indian Market Research Bureau

9

Mention of the older age group points to an awareness
and inclusion of the booster does as part of the

However, the majority of

immunization schedule.

all respondents did think of the immunization schedule

as only the basic schedule and not the booster doses.
iii/

Earliest age

- DPT

The earliest age, as stated by 62.9% of all respon­

dents, was 3 months.

22.8% of the respondents spoke

of an age of less than 2 months.

These were more

from metros and from government hospitals.

In

Hamirpur* Madurai0and Kheda+districts, respondents

mentioned the starting age as being less than 2 years.
Base: All aware Below
of DPT vaccine 2 months 3 months

Over 3
months

O'
zO

O'
zO

0'
zO

Hamirpur*

17

70.6

23.5

5.9

Madurai 0
Kheda+

24

45.8

37.5

16.7

22

59.1

36.4

4.5

Metros

47

36.2

53.2

6.4

Districts

260

20.2

64.6

11.2

Ref : Table C-17

In Anantpur*, 29.2% of all respondents gave the
starting age as 4 months.
11/

Interval between 2 doses

DPT

68.8% of all respondents at the district level and
89% of all respondents at the metro level stated that
the correct interval between 2 doses was one month.

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(%)

Base: All aware Total
of DPT vaccine
307
One month
72.0
Two months
12.4
Over 2
months

13.1

Dist rict
260
68.8

Metro
47
89.4

13.1

8.5

15.3

0.0

Major variations
South
West
AnantGwaIddukki
pur*
Nanded* Kheda lior
24
24
21
22
22
41.7
0.0
61.9
63.6 72.7
41.7
0.0
36.4
16.6

100.0

38.4

27.3

Ref : Table A-18, C-18

As is apparent, the
knowledge in South and West zones
pertaining to the interval between 2 doses of
the DPT
vaccine was very different from the national average.
90% of private practitioners

were in favour of a one-

month interval as

compared 67°6 at the PHC/PHSs and 71?6
at the government health centres.

d/

OPV

1/

No. of doses

OPV

Most government related health
personnel saw OPV as a
3 dose vaccine, Private practitioners
and respondents
from the metros were however,
divided in their opinions
between three and five doses.

The details are as follows :
(%)

3 doses

84.5

Disttrict
262
89.3

5 doses

11.7

6.9

38.3

Others

3.8

3.8

4.3

Base: All aware
of OPV vaccine

*

Total

~3O9

Mainly 4 doses

Metro
47
57.4

Doc­
tor^
114
74.6

18.4
7.0*

Major variations
WoIddu- Madu- Bom- Calrker kki+
rai° bay cutta
195
24
24
24
12
90.3 58.3
79.2
33.3 41.7
7.7

37.5

2.0

4.2

20.8

66.7 50.0
8.3*

RD K

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Indian Market Research Bureau

11

Target recipient

OPV

The pre-one year old was seen by 98.4% of all res­

pondents as being the target recipient.

16.2% spoke of

the post-one year old too, referring to the booster

doses.

(This could account for the 5 or 4 doses

mentioned by some respondents).

Less than one percent

of all respondents spoke of the target recipient as
the post-one year old only.

Higher mention of both age groups came from private

practitioners, and from Gwalior* and Nanded*in the
West zones.

The details were as follows :
(%)

Base: All
aware of OPV
vaccine
Child below
1 year
Child above
1 year

Total

Dis­
trict Metro

Do­
ctor

Wor­
ker

Major variations
GwaPur- Bomlior* Nanded* nia° bay

309

262

47

114

195

22

21

24

12

98.4

99.3

93.6

98.2

98.5 100.0

100.0

95.8

91.7

16.2

13.0

34.0

19.3

14.4

52.4

25.0

75.0

45.5

Ref: Tables A-20; C-20

iii/

Earliest age
Opinions with regard to the earliest age were divided.
The majority (62.5%) said that the starting age was 3

months; 23% mentioned an age of 2 months or less while

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14.5% gave an age above 3 months as the starting age.
The details were as follows :
(%)
Total
Base; All aware
aware of OPV vaccine 309
Upto 2 months
23
3 months
62.5

4 months+

14.5

District
262

Metro
47

19.5

Worker

42.6

Doctors
114
24.6

61 .4

40.4

58.8

64.6

19.1

17.0

16.6

13.3

195
22.1

(%)

Base: All aware of
OPV vaccine
Upto 2 months

Hami rpur*

3 months

30

Major differences
Anant
pur*
Kheda+ Nanded*
22
23
21
9
59
5
65
36
57

4 months+

10

26

20
60

5

38

Bom­
bay/
12
64

Cal­
cutta
12

9

17

27

25

58

Ref: Tables A-21; C-21
The tendency in the North zone was to start earlier, at
2 months or before that.
vi/

Interval between 2 doses

OPV

The interval between 2 OPV doses was mostly seen as being
Private practitioners and metro respondents
were more wholly in favour of a one-month interval. In
one month.

some districts, particularly in the South zone, the
responses favoured a two-month interval.
Details were as follows :

umbi
Indian Market Research Bureau

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(%)

Major differences

Govt
Hospitals
99
71

Interval
Base* :
One month

Total
309
72.8

Dis­
trict Metro
262
47
70.2 87.2

2 months

12.9

13.4

10.6

18

Over 2
months

14.3

16.4

2.2

11

Anantpur*
23

Iddukki+
24
46
42

100

Mad­
urai-0 Kheda
24
22
75
64
23

36

12

Ref: Tables A-21 . B-21, 0-21
H

good category” district were

surprising as the majority stated that the interval

between 2 OPV doses would be 3 months or more.
There were no real variations in responses given by

doctors and workers.

75% in the former category and

71% in the latter placed the interval at one month.

v/

Measles

i/

No. of doses - Measles

Measles was predominantly seen as a one dose vaccine.

This was stated by 97.7% of all respondents.

There

were no real variations by district/metro, doctors/

workers or by type of centre
ii/

Target recipient - Measles
The target recipient was largely seen as being the

child aged less than one year (95.3%).

However, 14.4%

also mentioned that the vaccine was to be given to a
child aged over 1 year.

28
1

* All aware of OPV vaccine

Responses from Anantpur? a

*

Nanded
21
71

Since an overlap of 10% is

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incongruant with the earlier statement of measles being

a one-dose vaccine, this overlap connotes uncertainity

or flexibility rather than booster doses.

Measles injections for a child above the age of one
year were mentioned by private practitioners

and in
There were no real variations between
district and metros or between doctors and workers.
some districts.

The details were as follows :
(%)

Major differences
Govt
Gwa­ lan­
Hospi­
lior* ded* Purnia 0 tals
22
21
23
96

Private
practi­
tioners

Total

Dis­
trict

Metro

Base

298

256

42

Below 1
year
Above 1
year

95.3

96.1

90.5

100

95

83

96

45
93

14.4

14.5

14.3

45

62

26

8

20

*

All aware of measles vaccines
Ref: A-24, B-24, C-24

iii/

Earliest age

Measles

Two-thirds of the respondents
mentioned 99 months
months as the
respondents mentioned

The remaining one-third
mentioned both earlier and later ages.
ages. The
lhe average
age for the measles dose.

age mentioned across the country was, however, 9.1
months.

The variations across centres and respondent

groups
become clearer if looked at in terms of the average
age mentioned.

BW

Indian Market Research Bureau

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Average age (Months)

Base: All aware of measles vaccine; figure in brackets
Total
9.1
(298)
District (256)

9.1

Doctors

(109)

9.3

(42)

9.2

Workers

(189)

9.0

Metro

Govt hospitals(96) 9.3

PHO

(63) 9.1

PHS

(94) 8.9

Private
practitioners (45) 9.2

Variations within districts and metros were as follows :
Higher age

Allahabad*(15) 9.6

Lower age

Iddukki

(23) 10.0

Purnia0 (23)
Puri+
(22)

Madurai 0

(24) 9.5

Kheda

(22)

8.8

Bombay

(12)10.0

Delhi

(11)

8.5

8.2
8.8

Ref: Tables A-25; B-25; 0-25

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1.2

DISEASES PREVENTED BY VACCINES

The questions asked to respondents in this context
was "What are the diseases prevented by each of these
vaccines ?
Each vaccine was mentioned and respondents

were asked to name the diseases.
The answers were predominantly correct.

Total

responses are given below :

Name of vaccine

(Base : 312)
Disease prevented

TT

Tetanus

96.5

BCG

TB

97.1

OPV

Polio

99.0

DPT

Tetanus

84.9

Diptheria

95.2

Whooping cough

97.1

Measles

97.1

Measles

% mention

Ref : Tables A—31 to A-35

TT vaccine was credited with preventing whooping cough,

diptheria by a handful of respondents, mainly doctors

from both districts and metros.
BCG and OPV were fairly clearly associated with TB
and Polio respectively.

Indian Market Research Bureau

17

The knowledge that DPT provided protection against

tetanus was somewhat weak, particularly amongst workers,

at both state and metro levels.

Data from private

practitioners and PHS' showed lower than average

awareness of tetanus prevention through DPT.
Measles vaccine was strongly associated with

of measles.

prevention
Only four respondents from the districts

confused the vaccine with prevention of tetanus.

W

Indian Market Research Bureau

18

1.3

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASES AND PERCEPTIONS OF SERIOUSNESS

1.3.1

Polio

a/

Symptoms

The most important symptoms of polio were paralysis

of the affected limb (82.4%) and fever and pain in
the head (68.3J6).

The latter was mentioned more often by doctors. The
former was mentioned more often in the districts and
by workers.

The details are as follows :
(%)

Symptoms
Total
Base: All res­
pondents
312
Fever/headache 68.3

Doc­ Wor­
tors kers

North

Zones
South East

West

48
73

115
82

197
60

57
56

72
93

70
71

65
45

District

Metro

264
67

Paralysis of
limbs

82.4

81

90

77

85

63

83

89

86

Pain in limb

34.9

33

46

38

33

19

42

43

25

Difficulty in
standing/
walking

9.6

10

6

9

10

12

7

7

15

Ref: Tables A-A6, C-36
In the North zone,
zone, there were several symptoms

mentioned.

In the South zone (including Madras

metro) responses were focussed more clearly around

fever/headache (100% mention in Anantpur? Madurai0
and Madras) and paralysis of the limb(s).

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In the West and East zones paralysis of the affected

limb was the main symptom mentioned.

It was mentioned

by all respondents in Bombay, Gwalioi* and Nanded*and
Calcutta.

While fever/headache were mentioned by 71%

of the respondents in the East zone, it was mentioned

by less than 45% of respondents in the West zone,

The

other symptoms that were mentioned were :

difficulty in walking/standing - 9.6%
limbs become weak/thin - 7.1%

high fever and vomiting - 6.1%

weakness - 6.1%
b/

Seriousness
Polio was considered serious or very serious by over

98?6 of all respondents.

More respondents in metros

and in the worker group considered polio to be very

serious disease than in the districts.

The details

are as follows :
(%)

Base:*
Very serious

Total
312
65.4

District
264
64

Metro
48
71

Doctor
115
62

Worker
197
68

Serious

32.7

34

27

37

31

North
Base*:
57
Very serious 58

Serious

40

* All respondents

Delhi
12
75

South
72
68

Madras
12
92

East
70
73

Cal­
cutta
12
92

25

31

8

27

8

65
59

Bombay
12
25

39

67

West

Ref: Table A-37, C-37

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Indian Market Research Bureau

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Attitudes towards polio in the West zone were clearly

less anxious than those in the East and South

1.3.2

zones.

Diphtheria

a/

Symptoms
The main symptoms of diphtheria

Total
Base: All respondents
312
Swelling in the
throat
64.1

Dis­

were as follows :

(%)

trict. Metro
264
48

Doctor
115

Worker
197

62

75

69

61

White membrance
in throat

57.7

55

71

67

52

Fever/cough/cold
fits

50.0

51

44

59

45

Child cannot eat

39.1

39

40

34
Ref: Table A-38

42

Doctors were clearly more conversant with symptoms of

diphtheria than workers, Similarly, there was more
familiarity with the symptoms in the metros than in the
districts.
Within districts,

the diphtheria

there was greater familiarity with
symptoms in Puri+, Nadia0, Anantpur*

and Madurai0.

In the city of Bombay, respondents

were more conversant with the symptoms of diphtheria
than in other cities.

Apart from those mentioned above, other symptoms of

Indian Market Research Bureau

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diphtheria that were mentioned were :
difficulty in breathing - 15.7%

pain and swelling, white tissue in throat - 9.3%
difficulty in speaking - 4.2%
b/

Seriousness

The majority (74%) considered diphtheria to be a very
serious disease. The detailed breakup was as follows :
(%)

Doc­ Wortor
ker
115
197
78
72

Base: All respondents
Very serious
Serious

T otal
312
74.0
23.7

District
264
74

20

26

Not serious

1.6

2
2
1
Ref : Table A-39

2

24

Metro
48
73
23

Clearly, there were not many variations between per­

ceptions of seriousness in districts and metros.

Doctors considered the disease to be marginally more
serious than workers did.

Within districts, diphtheria was considered more
serious in Gwalior4",Madurai
,Madurai 0 , Nadia0, Iddukki+,
Puri

and Nanded* than the others.

Within metros,

diphtheria got a higher seriousness rating in Delhi,
followed by Madras, Calcutta & Bombay, in that

order.

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Indian Market Research Bureau

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There were no major variations in familiarity with
the disease or in the perceptions of serious by type
of health centre.

1.3.3

Pertussis

a/

Symptoms

The two main symptoms of pertussis that were
mentioned were that the child keeps coughing and

that there is a whoop during the cough.

The

mention of the whoop came significantly more
from metros than from districts and from doctors

than from workers.

Within types of doctors, this

symptom was mentioned more often by doctors in
government hospitals and the private practitioners.

The main symptoms mentioned were as follows :
(S)

Total

Dist r ict

Metro

Doctor

Wor­
ker
North

South

East

West

57

72

70

65

72.1

71.9

65.3

78.6

66.2

83.5

64.0

50.9

72.2

62.9

83.1

43.8 •

53.0

49.7

50.9

43.1

55.7

60.0

22.3

22.9

27.0

19.8

21.1

23.6

18.6

26.2

14.4

6.3

7.0

16.8

10.5

8.3

34.3

3.1

Base:
Child
keeps
coughing

312

264

48

115

197

70.2

70.5

68.8

67.0

Whoop
during
cough

71.2

67.8

89.6

Vomiting
a fter
cough

51.0

52.3

Fever

22.4

Watery/
reddish/
shut eyes 13.1

Ref : Table A-40; C-40

rrnKB

Indian Maricet Research Bureau

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Other symptoms mentioned were
face becomes red - 6.7?6
difficulty in breathing cough - 3.2%

In the North zone,apart from other symptoms, the

fact that the face became red was mentioned by 15%
of the respondents.

b/

Seriousness
The disease was considered to be serious by 47% of

the respondents and

respondents.

very serious by 42% of the

While the disease was considered

serious, it received a lower seriousness score than
other diseases such as polio and diphtheria.

It was

considered to be more serious than measles and TB.

Almost all respondents in Gwalior

pertussis to be very serious,

(96%) considered

Two out of three

respondents in Nanded* felt the same,

In Hamirpur*
and in Madurai0, over 50% believed that the disease
was serious. On the whole, workers believed that
the disease was very serious (45%) more than
doctors did (37%).

Indian Market Research Bureau

24

1.3.4

Tetanus
a/

Symptoms

The main symptoms of tetanjs that were mentioned
were that the body would become rigid, the affected
person would get convulsions and the jaw would get

locked.

Doctors mentioned lock jaw more often

while workers mentioned that the body becomes rigid.

The main symptoms mentioned and differences by
different categories of persons or places were
as follows :
(%)

Total
312

District
264

Metro
48

Doctor
115

Worker
197

72.4

72.3

72.9

60.9

79.2

Lock-jaw

66.7

67.8

60.4

82.6

57.4

Convulsions

61.9

61 .4

64.6

75.7

53.8

Fever

16.7

18.2

8.3

16.5

16.8

Base: All respondents
Body becomes
rigid

Ref : Table A-42
Lockjaw was mentioned more by doctors at the district

level, mainly in PHCs.

There appeared to be greater

familiarity with the disease in some districts than
in others in that several symptoms were mentioned

by a majority of the respondents. These districts
were Anantpur*, Puri+, Gwalior*, Kheda+, Nanded*
and Hamirpur*

IMH D
D

Indian Market Research Bureau

25

Other symptoms that were mentioned were

neck/face/lips become rigid - 6.1%
unable to swollow/digest/eat - 4.2%

difficulty in breathing - 1.9%

b/

Seriousness
The disease was clearly in the very serious category

with an overall seriousness score of 2.8.

84%

of all

respondents considered the disease to be very serious.

92% of the respondents in metros believed that this

disease was very serious as compared to 83% of the respon­
dents in the districts.

It was considered most

serious in the North zone, particularly in Bharatpur0
and Gwalior* districts.

It was also considered very

serious by respondents in Gwalior* and Nanded*
districts.

91% of private practitioners categorised

the disease as being very serious as compared to 8O?6

of the respondents in government hospitals and
dispensaries.

1.3.5

T.B

a/

Symptoms

The main symptoms of tuberculosis as given by the

respondents were persistent cough and fever, child would

lose

weight and look

tired.

There were variations

in the viewpoints between doctors and workers as well
as between districts and metros.

Indian Market Research Bureau

26

Symptoms

Total Districts

Base: All respondents
Persistent cough/
fever

312

Metro

Doctors

Workers

264

48

115

197

88.5

90.2

79.2

93.9

85.3

Child loses
weight

63.5

61.7

72.9

74.8

56.9

Child looks tired

39.4

37.9

47.9

40.0

39.1

Ref: Table A-44
There was greatest familiarity with TB in the three dis­
tricts of the South zone and in Puri

and kheda^'districts.

Enlarged lymphnodes and glands in the neck were only

mentioned by 9% of all respondents.

These respondents

came largely from the three districts of Purnia°, Nadia0
and Nanded*.

Other symptoms that were mentioned were :
spits blood from the mouth - 9.6%
weakness - 4.8%
chest pain/ribs pain - 4.5?6

TB was considered serious rather than very serious and
received an overall seriousness score of 2.3 out of 3.

Doctors tended to consider the disease just serious
whereas workers classified it as very serious.
The ratings on seriousness were as follows :

Indian Market Research Bureau

27

(%)

“372”

Dist rict
264

Metro
48~

Doctors
115

Workers
197

41.7

40.5

47.9

29.6

48.7

Gwa- NanNadia0 Puri+ lior* ded*
24
22
22
21
54
50
91
62

Serious
45.2
46.2
* All respondents

39.6

51.3

41.6

46

Total

Base*:
Very
serious

1.3.6

50

9

Ref: Table A-45; C-45

Measles
The main symptoms of measles as stated by the respondents

were fever, rash, cough and watery eyes,

There were no

major differences in symptoms mentioned by district

versus metro or by doctor versus worker.

In Hamirpur*, Anantpur* and Puri , there was higher

familiarity with the symptoms of measles,

On the whole

respondents were considerably more familiar with the
symptoms of mealses than they were with symptoms of the

other vaccine-preventible diseases.

The differences by district/metro or by doctors/workers

were as follows :
(?□)

Symptoms
Base: All respondents
Fever

Total
95.8

District
264
96.6

Metro
48
91.7

Doctor
115
96.5

Worker
197
95.4

Rash

90.7

90.9

89.6

92.2

89.8

Cough

43.6

43.6

43.8

46.1

42.1

Watery eyes

37.8

38.3

35.4

36.5

38.6

Body becomes reddish

14.4

15.9

6.3

13.9

14.7

Ref: Table A-46

Indian Market Research Bureau

33

28

b/

Seriousness
Measles received the lowest seriousness rating

amongst all 6 diseases with as many as 14% of the
respondents saying that the disease was
was "not serious".
35% said that the disease was very serious while 49?6
felt that measles was serious.
For comparison purposes, the scores received by the
other diseases were as Follows :
(%)

(Base : 312)

Very
serious

Serious

Not
serious

Mean
scores

Polio

65.4

32.7

1.6

2.6

Diphtheria

74.0

23.7

1.6

2.7

Pertussis

42.0

47.4

7.4

2.4

Tetanus

84.0

13.5

0.6

2.8

TB

41.7

45.2

12.8

2.3

Measles

34.9

49.4

14.1

2.2

(Ref: Tables A-37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47)

It was interesting to note that doctors considered
measles non-serious more than workers did; similarly,
more
respondents from districts considered the disease
to be non-serious as compared to metro
level
respondents.

In Anantpur* and Iddukki+, over one

third of the respondents said that measles was not

In Allahabad+, 20% said that it was a
non-serious disease.
serious.

HD

w

Indian Market Research Bureau

29

2.0

PRACTICE-RELATED KNOWLEDGE

2.1

CONTRAINDICATIONS
Respondents were asked if there were any situations or

circumstances when a child should not be given vaccinations.
Responses by vaccination type, are given below,

These

give the overall picture for all the vaccines,

Each
vaccine will then be studied for perceptions regarding
contraindications and differences, if any, by districts

and metros, within districts and by type of respondent.

(?o)

Vaccine type
DPT

OPV

TT

BCG

Measles

Cough/cold

54.2

48.7

27.6

39.4

39.7

Diarrhoea/
vomiting

54.5

75.3

33.0

40.7

44.2

Fever less
than 100° IF 54.5

46.8

35.3

41.3

47.8

Fever more
than 100® IF 74.7

63.1

50.3

57.1

62.8

Malnu­
trition

19.6

19.9

15.4

17.9

17.6

Skin disease/
boils
35.3

29.5

23.7

32.1

32.1

Others

15.7

13.8

9.6

11.9

13.8

None

3.2

2.6

24.4

12.2

5.8

Don't Know

2.9

3.2

17.3

13.8

10.9

Contra­
indications

Base :

All respondents - 312
Ref: Tables A-54, 55, 56, 57, 58

Indian Market Research Bureau

30

Contraindications were most strongly associated with
DPT and OPV vaccines. 94% of the respondents mentioned
some contraindication or the other in connection with
those vaccines.
The lowest association of contra­
indications was with the TT vaccine where only 38% of
the respondents mentioned any and as many as 24% said

that there were no contraindications for TT.
The health circumstances that were strongly associated

with avoiding vaccines were high fever (over 100°F)
diarrhoea and/or vomiting

fever below 100°F and

cough/cold, in that order.

Skin diseases and boils
were seen as contraindications by about a third of all
respondents for most vaccines.

We will study each of the contraindications in detail :

2.1.1

Cough and cold
This contraindication was mentioned by 61.2% of all
respondents.

It was mentioned more often at the metro

level (67%) than at the district level (60%).
Cough and cold was most commonly seen as a contra­
indication for the DPT vaccine, followed by the OPV

vaccine.

39% of the respondents believed it to indicate

that measles and BCG vaccines should also not be given.

Only 28% were opposed to giving TT vaccine when the
patient had a cough or cold.
66% of the workers mentioned cough and cold as contra­
indication as compared to only 53% of the doctors.

In

metros, 76% of all workers mentioned cough and cold in
this context.

Indian Market Research Bureau

31

2-1 -2

Diarrhoea and vomiting

There were seen to be contraindications by 77% of all

respondents.

The vaccine that was most commonly seen

to be banned under the circumstances was OPV followed

by DPT.

The rationale was possibly that OPV being an

oral vaccine would be rendered ineffective by the
presence of diarrhoea or vomiting.

55% of all respondents felt that DPT could not be

given during diarrhoea/vomiting ,

of all respon­

dents felt the same with regard to the measles vaccine
and ^i1?o felt the same way with regard to BCG.

Diarrhoea/vomiting was seen as a contraindication
more often by doctors (80%) than by workers.

Doctors

in metros were more unanimous in their ban on vaccines
during diarrhoea/vomiting with 85% of them citing it

as a contraindication.
2-1.3

Fever below 100° F

59% of all respondents mentioned this situation as a

contraindication, with the main ban being on the DPT

vaccine, followed by measles, followed by OPV, BCG
and TT.

Workers mentioned low fever as a contraindication more

often than doctors (62% versus 54%).

Respondents in the

four metros believed that low fever was a contraindication
significantly more often than respondents in the districts

(69% verus 57%).

Indian Market Research Bureau

32

2.1.4

Fever above 100° F

This was quoted as a contraindication by 80% of all
respondents.

It was seen as a signal for not giving

DPT vaccine (75%),measles (63%), OPV (64%), BCG (57%)
and TT (50%).

In the metros, as many as 93% of all doctors mentioned
fever above 100° F in this context.

At the district

level, though, high fever was mentioned as a contra­

indication by more workers (81%) than doctors (74%).

As with other contraindications, there was a greater
belief in not giving vaccines during high fever
amongst metro respondents than amongst district

respondents.

2.1.5

Malnutrition
Malnutrition was not a widely recognised contra-

indication for immunization,

Only 24% of all respon-

dents mentioned it, and these respondents came mainly
from the districts. There was no real difference

between doctors and workers on this score.

Malnutrition was seen as a contraindication for almost
all vaccines in equal proportions.

20% of the respon­

dents mentioned OPV and DPT vaccines, 18% mentioned

BCGj and measles and 15% mentioned the TT vaccine.

Indian Market Research Bureau

2.1.6

Skin diseases and boils

40% of all respondents mentioned this condition,
making it a more widely recognized contraindication

than malnutrition.

Larger proportions of workers (43%)

mentioned that skin diseases/boils would be an

indication to not vaccinate than doctors (35%).

As

with malnutrition, skin diseases and boils were
mentioned more often at the district level (42%)

than in the metros (27%).

For each vaccine, there were some respondents who

said that there were no contraindications meaning
that the vaccine could be given under any circum­
stances .

The details are as follows :

No contraindication
(%)

Total
Base:All respondents 3'1 2
DPT
3.2

Doctor
115
4.3

Worker
197
2.5

District
264
3.8

Metro
48
Nil

OPV

2.6

3.5

2.0

3.0

Nil

IT

24.7

31.3

20.8

22.0

39.6

BCG

12.8

19.1

9.1

10.2

27.1

Measles

6.1

9.6
4.1
5.7
8.3
Ref: Tables A-54, 55, 56, 57, 58
TT was the one vaccine that was believed to be

permissible under any circumstances by one out of four

respondents.

BCG was also seen to be relatively free

of the constraint of contraindications as compared to

DPT, OPV and measles, each of which had some contra­

indication or the other, in the opinion of almost
all respondents.

Indian Market Research Bureau

34

2.2

MAi:;TAINE,\CE OF VACCINES : TEMPERATURE

The objective of the question on temperatures at

which vaccines should be maintained was to check if
respondents were aware of the •;-4°C to +8°C
temperature range at which all vaccines would
ideally need to be preserved.

The correct answer, namely that vaccines should
be kept at the centre or clinic at a temperature
that ranged from +4°C to 4-80C.,came from 44.6% of all

respondents.

26.3,o said that they did not know

the answers

while 295a gave an incorrect answer.

i or reasons of clarity we will divide responses
for this analysis, i.e respondent type analysis,

into 3 segments, correct responses, incorrect
responses and "don't know" responses.
The correct responses more came from doctors
than from workers both at metro and district

levels, with district level doctors scoring a
slight edge over metro level doctors.

The

■Ldon't know" responses came mainly from workers

particularly at the district level and, within

Incorrect

them, particularly at the sub-centres.

responses came equally from both groups.

Indian Market Research Bureau

35

The broad break-up of responses is as follows :

Total

Doctors

Workers

312

115

197

Base :

0;

Correct

Incorrect
Don't know

44.6
29.1

59.1

29.6

36.0
29.0

26.3

11.3

35.0

____ Total
District Metro
Base :

O'
/O

Doctors
District Metro

Workers
District Metro

264

48

88

27

176

21

%

O'
/0

O'

%

O'
'0

%

Correct

44.7

43.8

61 .4

51.9

36.4

33.3

Incorrect

26.5

43.7

26.1

40.7

26.7

47.7

Don’t know

28.8

12.5

12.5

7.4
36.9
Ref: Table A-59
Clearly there were more wrong notions held by respondents
at the metro level, both doctors and workers.

19.0

The major mistake at the metro level was that respondents
believed that vaccines were to be frozen.

Thus, out of the

48 respondents in metros, 7 believed that vaccines were to

be maintained at 0°C, another 7 responded by saying that
vaccines were to be kept at freezing point or in deep

freeze and 3 spoke of temperatures that were below —10°C.
Thus, metro level responses can be accounted for as
follows :

D

D
Indian Market Research Bureau

36

Metro
Doctors
Workers
Nos.
Nos.

Metro

No.

0'

Base :

48

100

27

21

Correct

21

43.8

14

7

Don't know

6

12.5

2

4

Belov/ —10°C

3

6.3

1

2

Freezing point/
deep freeze

7

14.6

3

4

At 0°C

7

14.6

4

3

Above +8°C

1

2.1

1

\ot specified

3

6.3

2

/O

1

Ref: Table A-59
A metro-wise analysis reveals that respondents were best
informed in Bombay,

The metro wise break-up of responses

is as follows :

Bombay
Nos

Calcutta
Nos

Delhi
Nos

Madras
Nos

Base

12

12

12

12

Correct

9

2

8

2

Don’t know

0

1

1

4

Below -10°C

0

1

Freezing point/
0°C

2

8

Above +8°C

0

Not specified

1

2

1

3
1

2
Ref: Table C-59

Indian Market Research Bureau

~51

In Calcutta, the belief in keeping vaccines at freezing

point seemed to be widely prevalent.

In Madras and

Calcutta, the proportion of correct answers was very

poor.

At the district level, the highest proportion of correct
responses came from the West zone, particularly from

Kheda+and Nanded* districts (73% and 67% respectively).
Two other districts had a higher-than-average score of
correct answers. These were Gwalior* (50%) and Bharatpur0 (5O?o). The lowest proporportion of correct

(2O.8?6), Purnia
Purnia 0 (33.3%)
responses came from Madurai0 (20.8%),
and Puri+ (36.4%).

There appeared to be a correlation between knowledge
on this subject and the performance categories.

Poor
74

Good

Medium

87

83

O'
zO

0'
/0

?□

Correct

49.4

49.4

36.2

Don't know

25.3

27.7

33.0

Base :

30.8
22.9
25.3
(Ref: Table B-59)
At the district level, errors were once again mainly
with regard to lower temperatures.

Incorrect

Indian Market Research Bureau

38

District
level

Base :
Belov/ 4°C :

- 20°C to -10°C
0°C
Freezing point/
deep freeze
+1°C to +4°C
Above 8°C

District
Doctors
Workers

264

88

176

C'

0'

%

12.1

10.2

13.1

4.5

2.3

5.7

1 .1

2.3

0.6

5.7

10.2

3.4

3.0

1.1

4.0

Ref : Table A-59

Indian Market Research Bureau

39

2.3

NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS NEEDED TO OPEN A VIAL
One deterrant to complete immunization of a child
would be non-receipt of the vaccination after a
mother had taken the trouble to take her child to

the doctor or health centre.

One of the several

reasons for which a child would be sent back would

be an insistence on the part of the doctor that
sufficient numbers should be present to
the opening of a vial.

justify

In order to check if indeed such constraints

operate, respondents were asked to specify the
number of children due for DPT vaccine that he/

she would need before opening a 10-dose DPT vial.
19.6% of all respondents said that they would open

a vial if even 1 child was present; 17% said that
10 children would need to be present. The remaining
63% of the responses were for varying numbers, as
given in the table on the following page.

8% did not give an answer to this question,

Of

those who did give an answer, the frequency
distribution was as follows :

W

Indian Market Research Bureau

40

Respondents who answered :
T otal

No. of
Children

No.

.3

Base :

287

100

No.

0'

1

61

21.2

2

7

2.4

3

0

4

7

2.4

5

44

6

Doctors

Workers

102

185

O'

%

32.3

15.1

2.9

2.2

26.0

2.9

2.2

15.3

41.3

18.6

13.5

27

9.4

50.7

10.8

8.6

7

23

8.0

58.7

4.9

9.7

8

36

12.5

71.2

5.9

16.2

9

9

3.1

74.3

2.0

3.8

10

53

18.5

92.8

15.7

20.0

20

7.0

99.8

3.9

8.6

More than 10

Cumulative

%

/□

23.6
23.6

yrr

Mean
tTT
Ref : Table A-66
Median
4-5
6-7
The average (mean) was 6.2 children needed while the

median was at 6.0.

There was an appreciable difference in the responses
given by doctors and workers.

32.3% of all doctors felt that the presence of one child
was sufficient reason to open a vaccine vial.

The

mean lay at 5.1 children while the median requirement
was 4-5 children.
The mode was clearly at one child.

J
Indian Market Research Bureau

41

By contrast, the mode in the analysis of worker

responses lay at 10 children (2O?6 of all responses)'
The median was at 6-7 children while the mean value

was 7.1 children.

Only 15% of the workers said that
one child provided sufficient reason to open a ten-dose
vial.
Analysis of the data by the health worker categories
and private practitioners revealed that the knowledge

at the level of primary health centres was most in
keeping with desired norms, as is clear from the
averages given below :
Govt hospital/
dispensary

PHC

PHS

Private
practitioner

6.5
children

5.3
children

6.8
children

5.9
children

Median

6-7

5-6

7

7

Mode

10

1

8

1

Mean

Ref: Table

B-66

Indian Market Research Bureau

42

2.4

LEFT-OVER VACCINES

On the whole, the instinct of preserving seemed

to emerge stronger than that of throwing away or

Presuming that the decision to keep
or throw away would vary by the quantity of
destroying.

vaccine left over in a vial, respondents had been
asked to talk of their action with regard to less

than half-a-vial of vaccine being left over after
an immunization session and more than half a vial

of vaccine being left over.

The responses were as follows :
(?o)

Less than ? vial
Total Doctors Workers

More than | vial
Total Doctors Workers

Base: Ail respondents
Throw away

312
39.1

115

197

43.5

36.5

312
18.6

115

197

23.5

15.7

Put back

40.4

36.6

42.6

55.8

48.7

59.8

Depends on the
vaccine

12.2

13.9

11.2

14.4

17.4

12.7

Others

3.2

5.6

4.5

0.8

6.7

Don't know

5.1

4.1

6.7

9.6

5.1

6.0

Ref: Table A-67
Of those who said that they would put the vaccines
back in the refrigerator, a few (26-30%) explained
that they would mark it or place in a separate
container before putting back in the refrigerator.

IME®
Indian Market Research Bureau

43

The decision to keep back or to throw away would vary

by the type of centre to which the respondent belonged.
If more than half a vial was left over
over,, 66% of the

respondents at a PHC and 61% at a sub-centre would tend

to put the vaccine back.

Assuming inadequate equipment for

prolonged cooling at the sub-centre, the majority decision
to put the vaccine back causes concern.

Base

Less than 12 vial
Govt
hospi­
Pvt
tal
PMC PHS prac.

More than
vial
Govt
hospi­
Pvt
tals
PHC PHS prac.

102

53

102

63

94

53

%

%

%

63

94

O'
/O

%

?0

?0

O'
zO

Throw away

41

5-5

38

43

18

19

15

26

Put back

39

54

39

28

54

65

61

40

Depends on
the vaccine

15

11

11

11

20

10

13

13

Others

1

Don’t know

4

17

7

3

1

21

11

2

1

Ref : Table B-67
As we have seen, 12% of the responses in case less than
1
2

vial was left over and 14% in case of more than 1 a

vial was left over depended on the vaccine in question.
The vaccines that would tend to be put back were DPT and
TT.

The vaccines that would tend to get thrown away were

measles and BCG.

OPV would have a greater probability of

being put back than being thrown away.

Indian Market Research Bureau

44

Decision by vaccine

Base: Those whose decision
would depend on the vaccine
DPT

(Base : 47)
Put back
Throw away

OPV

v-------

0'

/O

■0

83
64

9

Measles
TT

6

32
81

75

17

BCG

13

75

Ref: Table A-69
The sample size is too small for any meaningful
analysis by doctors and workers. However, one feature
that emerges strongly is that no doctor spoke of

putting back a measles vaccine,

17 out of the 20
doctors said that they would throw it away. While 3

workers spoke of putting the measles vaccine back,
21 out of the 27*workers also said that they would

throw it away.

*

Those not accounted for said "don't know"

Indian Market Research Bureau

45

2.5

CASE-STUDIES

A couple of hypothetical situations were presented
to the respondent and he was then asked to talk of
the action that he would take in such a situation.
The first one was with regard to giving multiple

vaccines at a time to a child.

The other was with

regard to the measles vaccine.

2.5.1

Multiple vaccines at a time
The question asked was as follows :

We have spoken about the ideal immunization
schedule.

However, take a case where a child was

late for his third DPT Polio vaccine and was eligible
for the measles vaccine.

In such a case, would you
give him all three together ?"

50% of the respondents said that they would.

would not and 5% did not know,

Wo

The details were

as follows :
(%)

T otal
Base: All respondents 312
Yes
50.3
No
44.2

Don't know

5.4

Doctor
115
48.7

Worker
197
51.3

District
264
53.8

Metro
48
31.3

48.7

41.6

40.5

64.6

2.6

7.1

5.7

4.2

Ref: Table A-48
Higher willingness to give all 3 vaccinations together

in the districts appears to be a function of the UIP
efforts.

However,inter district variations were wide.

Indian Market Research Bureau

^6

Four districts where a high proportion of people said

that they would give all three vaccinations together
were :
Base

Said yes

Nadia0

24

83.3%

Bharatpur0

22

77.3%

Anantpur*

24

75.0%

Hami rpur*

20

65.0%

The districts were a higher-than-average proportion

of people said that they would not give all three

vaccines together were :

Said no
Puri+

22

77.3?o

Kheda+

22

68.2%

Iddukki4-

24

54.2%

Gwalior

22

50.0%

Ref: Table C-48
Amongst metros, respondents in Delhi were emphatic

that they would not give three vaccines together with
92% of the respondents saying 'no’, In Calcutta, two
out of three respondents said 'no'.

In Bombay and

Madras, 50% of the respondents said ’ no' .
The mam reason, for not giving three vaccines at a time

was that the side-effects could be unusually strong

(34.8%).

There was also the fear that there could be

other reactions (21%) though the nature of these

other reactions was not specified.

Two other reasons

Indian Market Research Bureau

1^1

mentioned by over 10% of the respondents were that
the body would be too weak to resist multiple vaccines
(12.3%) and that, if multiple vaccines were given at

a time they would be ineffective with the result that
the child would not get immunized (10%).

An analysis of these four main reasons by type of

respondent reveals the following :

Total
138

Doctor
56

Worker
82

District

Metro

Base: Who said 'no' .

107

31

Unusually strong side
effects

34.8

28.6

39.0

37.4

25.8

Other reactions

21.0

16.1

24.0

22.4

16.1

Body too weak to
resist multiple
vaccines

12.3

17.9

8.5

13.1

9.7

Child would not be
immunized

10.1

16.1

6.1

5.6

25.8

Ref: Table A-49
The figures that have been underlined serve to highlight
the type of worker and location where this view was more

strongly held.
The question on the reasons for not giving multiple

vaccines was an open-ended one with the result that a wide

range of responses were received.

The other responses

are listed below along with the percentage frequency of

that response.

Indian Market Research Bureau

48

(Base : 138)

?6 who gave
the reason

Reasons
The mother will object, will
not understand

4.3

At least one month gap necessary*

4.3

Multiple vaccines cannot be given

4.3

If side effects occur, it would be
difficult to locate reasons for the
side effect
2.2
If child late, then earlier
DPTs invalid

1 .4

Cause pain

1 .4

No .instructions to that effect have
been received

1 .4

Take up (effectiveness of vaccine)
reduced

0.7

Vial (presumably measles vial)
opened only if enough children
present

0.7

Question possibly misunderstood
Ref: Table A-49

2.5.2

Measles vaccine
Two questions were asked with reference to the

measles vaccine.

a/

The first question concerned the respondent’s own

personal view with regard to the advisability of
preventing measles.

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49

The overwhelming view was in support of the prevention

of measles.

91?6 of all respondents believed that

measles should be prevented,

100% of the workers in

metros favoured prevention.

In contrast, as many as
15% of the doctors in metros felt that
measles should not be prevented. There were no
major variations by doctors and workers on the whole

and in districts.

The negative responses revealed interesting patterns.

In the metros, 17% of the doctors in Calcutta and 8%

each in Bombay and Delhi were not in favour of the

prevention.

Amongst the districts, the highest

negative opinion came from Madurai (33.3%).

By

contrast, 100% of the respondents in Madras had been

in favour of preventing measles.

Some negative

opinion was also expressed in Kheda+, Iddukki

and

Bharatpur°and Puri4’ districts.

Those who expressed the belief that measles should not

be prevented (23 respondents) iwere asked for the
reasons for this negative reaction,
Since the
number of respondents were few the range of reasons
given are being listed below in order of frequency

of mention.

Indian Market Research Bureau

50

F requency

b/

Because measles cannot be prevented

7

Vaccine not really effective

5

Measles is not a serious disease

4

Preventing measles could be harmful

2

Complications of vaccinations serious

1

One attack of measles gives natural
immunity

2

Not specified

2

The other areaof inquiry with regard to measles was as
follows :
ii

If a mother/father said that her child had already had

measles, would you still give the measles vaccine or would
you refuse ?"

73% of all respondents said that they would not give the
vaccine, 23% said that they would give while 3.5% did not
know. The details were as follows :
(%)

Total

Doctors

Workers

District

Metro

Give

23.1

22.6

23.4

25.4

10.4

Not give

73.4

75.7

72.1

71.6

83.3

Dont Know

3.5

1.7

4.6

3.0

6.3

There were no real differences in the responses given by
doctors and workers though doctors were somewhat more

likely to not vaccinate a child who had reportedly already
had an attack of measles.

Indian Market Research Bureau

51

Between districts and metros though there was a clear

Only 10% of the respondents in metros would

difference.

give a measles vaccine in this situation as compared to

25% of the respondents at the district level.

This

difference seems to reveal, once again, the effect of

DIP training.
There were wide variations within districts, too.

The

districts where respondents favoured giving a vaccine
nevertheless and those where respondents preferred to

not give the vaccine have been listed separately below.

Average

I!

would give"

25.4%

% who would
give

% who would
not give

Gwalior

63.6

Purnia0

4.2

\‘anded*

57.1

Allahabad+

6.7

Hami rpur

35.0

iddukki’

8.3

Madurai 0

33.3

Puri

9.1

Bharatpur0

27.3

Kheda

9.1

Anantpur* = 25%

Nadia0

25%

Ref: Table C-52
The reason for not giving a vaccine was common to the
vast majority of those who said they would not give

namely,that natural immunity would have got developed

by that one attack of measles - 82.5% (Base : 229).

The other reasons given by small numbers of respondents

were as follows :

Indian Market Research Bureau

O 1^7

52

%

1.

Child may suffer from fever/get reaction

5.7

2.

Vaccine can worsen the condition*

4.4

3.

People recognize measles (♦ • believe report) 2.2

4.

Would refuse after verifying by asking
for symptoms

1.7

5.

Instructions already given to that effect

1.7

6.

Unless he is in the 9-12 month age group

1.3

*

Question apparently not understood.

The reasons given by a few respondents such as reasons
3, 4 and 6 indicate that the refusal would not be

blind but based on well-thought-out reasons and are
therefore reassuring.

Interestingly, more of these

responses came from workers than from doctors.

Indian Maricet Research Bureau

53

3.0

PROGRAMME

3,1

TARGETS

3.1.1

Coverage Targets
The UIP districts had been selected for intensive

immunization attention with the clearly defined
target of having 75% of all eligible infants and
pregnant women immunized in 1986.

That target was

to be maintained and improved upon in the years
that followed.

In order to see if respondents

were aware of these targets, each respondent was
asked to mention the percentage of eligible infants
in their territory that were to be vaccinated in

1987.

Since only the districts were in fact bound by
these targets, it would only be reasonable to

look at data originating from districts for this
study and not the metros.
District
Total

Doctors

Workers

PHC

PHS

264

88

176

63

94

%

%

%

%

%

Below 70%

11.7

11.3

12.0

12.7

8.6

75%

7.6

3.4

9.7

9.5

11.7

Above 75%

63.2

61.3

64.2

63.5

64.9

Not specified

17.4

23.9

14.2

14.3

14.9

Base :

Ref: Table A-94
The proportion of respondents who did not answer this

guestion can be read as those who did not know the

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56

17.8% said that they did not know the answer. Details
are given in the table below :

Total

Doctors

Workers

169

57

112

C'

?0

%

Base* :

/O

For 1-2 years

3.6

3-5 yrs or upto 1990

15.8

15-20 years or upto 2000 AD

10.7
7.7

12.3

8.0
5.4

A continuous process

42.6

33.3

47.3

For the duration of our
working life

7.1

5.3

8.0

Till 100?o target achieved

10.7

17.5

7.1

*

5.4

Ref :Table A-96
District level respondents who had said that immuni­
zation levels were to be maintained for the future.

An understanding of the continuous nature of this
programme (as expressed by statements 4 and 5 above)
was expressed by 100% of the respondents in Hamirpur*.

The details by district were as follows :

Continuous
process

For as long
as we are
working

Total

Dl<

Others

Hamirpur*

100.0

100.0

Bharatpur0
Allahabad*

73.7

73.7

20.0

10.0

70.0

Anantpur*
Iddukki-i-

20.8
5.3

10.5

20.0
20.8
15.8

58.3
26.3

20.9
42.1

Madurai0

35.0

25.0

60.0

5.0

35.0

26.3

Ref : Table C-96

mi

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51

Conti­
nuous
process

For as long
as we are
working

Total

DK

Purnia0

60.0

20.0

80.0

20.0

Nadia0

27.3

18.2

45.5

27.3

Puri+

54.5

Gwalior*
Kheda+

55.6
21 .4

Nanded*

63.6

54.5

11.1
7.1

66.7

Others

27.2
45.5**

28.5

11.1
7.1

63.6

27.3

22.2

64.4

** All said upto 1990

Ref: Table C-96

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58

3.2

APPRAISAL OF OWN CENTRE (DISTRICT)

42% of all respondents said that the immunization

performance of their centre had been good, 30/o
said that it had been very good while 16% said that

the performance had been excellent.

The differences in appraisal by doctors and workers
were as follows :
Districts
Total

Doctors

Workers

264

88

176

%

%

%

Excellent

16.3

13.6

17.6

Very good

30.3

32.4

Good
Fair

41 .7
7.2
0.8

26.1
45.5
9.1

6.3
6.3
2.8

Base :

Poor
Don't know

3.8

39.8

5.7

Ref : Table A-75
The perception of respondents in the district and the
status of the district as per reported levels of
immunization were at variance.

The details are as per the table given on the next
page.

Indian Market Research Bureau

59

Rating of immunization performance
(Mean Score ; Max = 5)

Good districts

3.2.1

Medium distircts

Poor districts

Hamirpur*

3.9

Allahabad-;-

3.7

Bharatpur0

4.1

Anantpur*

4.0

Iddukki+

3.5

Madurai0

3.5

Gwalior*

2.6

Puri +

3.3

Purnia0

3.6

Nanded*

2.6

Kheda+

2.7

Nadia0

2.8

Ref: Table C-75
Reasons for excellent-very good rating/performance

a/

The reasons as understood by the respondents fell into

two broad categories.

There were those who gave a

justification of their self-assessment of very goodexcellent performance.
These were broadly as follows :

i/

ii

A good proportion of the target has been
achieved" = 39.9%
%

Doctors

41.2

Workers

39.2

%

District

36.6

Metro
53.3
Ref : Table A-76, C-76
Other centres where respondents expressed satis­
faction that a good proportion of targets had been

achieved were Kheda+ (66.7%), Purnia+ (54.5%),

Hamirpur* (47.1%) and Gwalior* (40.0%).

W

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60

ii/

"Because many children had been vaccinated": 11.8%

The gist of this statement is the same as the one
quoted above, though this statement is less precise

than the earlier one.

25?6 of the respondents who

had rated their centre's performance as being very
good to excellent in Allahabad+ and Puri+, gave

this justification.
iii/

The other statements that explained the rating
were :
"No complaints of vaccinated child getting the

disease" :

3.9%

I!

No complaints/problems" : 2.6%

!l

Satisfactorily met all conditions like

cleanliness and care"
care : 1.3%

b/

The other category of responses were those where respon-

dents sought to explain the factors that had contributed

to this very good/excellent performance.
1/

The first credit went to people whose positive
attitudes to vaccination were believed to be a

major contributory factor to the centre's success
in this sphere.

"People are willing and cooperative.

They are aware of and believe in vaccinations".

This statement (or part thereof) was made by 24.8%
of all respondents.

Keeping in mind that the

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61

question was an open-ended one, spontaneous responses
of this nature serve to highlight the importance

of

creating a positive attitude in people in order to
make the EPI successful.

A large proportion (73%) of these responses came
from the three districts of the South zone namely

Anantpur*, Iddukki+, and Madurai0 followed by

North zone districts.
other zones

the

Only one district each in the

Puri+ and Nanded* had this comment

made by a couple of respondents each.
ii/

"Workers are cooperative/work as directed/work with
interest" : 11.1%

This statement came as much from workers as from

doctors, but was made mainly in the districts, with
particular reference to the three districts in the
South zone.
iii/

"Cold chain system properly maintained" : 8.5%.

This was mentioned by one or two respondents each in
Hamirpur*, Allahabad+, Anantpur*, Purnia0, Gwalior*
Kheda+, and Nanded*.
iv/

"We educate people on health, keep track of

immunizations due" : 7.8%
This statement, interestingly, came entirely from
workers.

One third of these respondents came from

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62

Purnia0.

The other districts where workers spoke of

health education and follow-up were Nanded*, Allahabad+

Hamirpur* and Madurai0.

v/

"Regular supply of vaccines" : 6.5?6
Credit was given to the system by workers, mainly from

districts and a couple of doctors.

Of all respondents

who made this statement, over 50% came from Anantpur*
district.

The other districts where one respondent

each spoke of regular supply of vaccines were

Hamirpur*, Anantpur+, Madurai0 and Gwalior*.

: 3.3%

vi/

"We sterilize syringes properly"

vii/

"Polite behaviour with people" : 1.3%

viii/

"Regular vaccination schedule & timing

it

: 1.3%

3.2.2 Reasonsfor "good" rating

Of those who had rated the performance of their centre as
being "good", 73% gave positive justifications for the

rating whereas 27% gave negative justifications.

This can be

explained by the angle from which the respondent was viewing
the response.

73% believed that a "good" rating was positive

and superior to a "fair-poor" rating.
rat ing.

27?6 felt that a good

rating was a compromise and gave reasons to explain why the

performance could not be rated "very good" or excellent".

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63

Positive : (Base : 90)
Reasons that explained rating

:

Achieved good proportion of the target

21.6%

Because many children vaccinated

5.4%

No complaints/problems

2.7%

No complaint of vaccinated child getting
the disease

2.0%

Reasons that explained good performance :
People are willing/cooperative/aware of/
believe in vaccinations

20.9%

Workers are cooperative/work as directed/
work with interest

6.1%

We educate people on health/keep track of
vaccines

3.4%

Ref : Table A-78

All other reasons, as given in numbers 5-8 in section 1 a'
above, were mentioned by 2-3 respondents each.

3.2.3

Reasons for negative rating

(Includes negative reasons given for ’’good” rating plus
reasons for fair and poor ratings.)

The reasons given here were varied and, as such, each
statement did not have the support of large numbers of

respondents.

However, they reveal the problems as

perceived by implementers and, are therefore important
in the total understanding of the immunization task.

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64

The fact that the most frequently mentioned reason,

both positive and negative pertained to the attitude
of people emphasises, once again, the importance of

information, education and communication to develop
positive attitudes.
People uneducated/refuse to understand

Conditions not ideal/infrastructural
problems (mostly East zone)

8.1%

People afraid of side effects/fever

6.1%

People need lots of persuasion/are
not convinced

5.4%

Coverage could be higher/v/as higher
earlier

5.4%

Numbers

Poor cold chain maintainence

3

Need better supplies

3

Staff not cooperative/sincere

2

Cannot be done scientifically

2

Insufficient coverage through outreach

2

dissatisfactory/insufficient

1

Training

Communication/explanation difficult

1

Propaganda/ publicity/awareness
insufficient

1

Limited number of patients

1

Pressure of

1

other govt, programmes

Indian Market Research Bureau

65

3.3

SPECIAL TRAINING FOR IMMUNIZATION

In response to a direct question on whether special
training for immunization had been received or not,

53?6 said that they had been given special training
while 47% said that they had not. The proportions
were inversely related between doctors and workers
as follows :

Total

Doctor

Worker

Yes

53.2

33.0

65.0

No

46.8

67.0
35.0
It is relevant to look at doctor and worker
responses by district and metro :

District
Doctor
Worker
Base

Metro_____
Doctor
Worker

88

176

27

21

O'
'0

O'
'O

O'
/O

O'
'O

Yes

35.2

69.9

23.8

No

64.8

30.1

25.9
74.1

76.2

Ref : Table A-70
It would appear that the chief recipients of
the training were workers at the district level.

68% of the respondents at the sub-centres and
63.5% at the health centres said that they had

received special training.

By comparison, only

45% at the government hospital and only 30% of
the private practitioners said so.

Indian Market Research Bureau

66

Of those who said that special training had been received,
38% said that it was very satisfactory and another 55%

said that it was satisfactory.
with the training.

Thus 93%

were satisfied

The districts where a high level of

satisfaction was expressed were Allahabad , Anantpur*

and Kheda+.

The districts were satisfaction expressed
4-

.0

was lower than the national average were Iddukki , Madurai ,
o

Puri , Gwalior* andNadia .

In other districts the level of

satisfaction expressed was in keeping with the national
average. (Ref : Table A-71, C-71).

Of the few respondents (11 numbers) who rated the training
as "not satisfactory" or "very unsatisfactory", the

complaints were as follows

:
Nos.

Insufficient training to give
injection

3

2)

Need a refresher course

1

3)

Insufficient training on overall
schedule

1

4)

Training period too short

1

5)

No training on persuading villager

1

1)

4 respondents had not specified the areas of,
dissatisfaction.

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The training on immunization had included a manual which

had been distributed to all UIP districts.

Respondents

were shown a copy of this manual, both the cover and

the inner pages (since covers had differed by period and

place).

They were asked if they had ever seen the

manual, or at least the illustrations.
illustrations,

They were then

asked if they currently had the manual with them and
whether the manual was useful. The responses to each of
these questions are presented in the table given below :
(%)

Base :
Ever seen
manual

Total
312

Those who said H Yes"_____
Doctor
Worker
District
115
197
264

Met ro
48

61.9

44.3

72.1

68.9

22.9

Ever seen
illustration

66.0

54.8

72.6

73.5

25.0

Currently have

48.4

33.0

57.4

54.9

12.5

Useful

83.0

77.4

86.3

85.6

68.8

Ref : Table A-73
Once again, wide differences emerge between doctors and
workers.
Intra-district data reveals that district

level workers were the main recipients of the training.
80% of them had seen the manual and 64% currently had it
with them.

Responses on the usefulness of the manual clearly have

to be interpreted to mean not just actual usefulness but
also perceived potential usefulness since 83% of all
respondents felt that the manual was useful when only

62% had ever seen it.

Indian Market Research Bureau

68

The manual, where available, was available in the
following languages.

Languages

District
North

22?o

67% , English

Hamirpur

Hindi

Bharatpur
Allahabad

Hindi 87?6 , English 13%
Hindi 67%, English 33%

South

Iddukki

Not specified
Malayalam 80%, English 20%

Madurai

Tamil

Anantpur

74% , English

26%

East
Purnia

Hindi 65%, English 35%

Nadia

Bengali 80%, English 20%

Puri

Oriya 83%, English 17?6

West

English 20%

Gwalior

Hindi 80%

Kheda

Gujarati 67%, English 33%

Nanded

Marathi 83%, English 17%
Ref : Table C-74

The main languages in which
on a national basis were :

Hindi
English

the manuals were avaialbe

32%
22?6

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4.0

UNDERSTANDING

THE PEOPLE

As we have already seen, cooperation in the people
or the lack of it plays an important role in the

success of the immunization programme.

In an effort

to understand the role played by family members we
asked implementers to talk of the decision makers

in the family on health care, on people's attitudes
with regard to immunization and reasons for rejecting
immunization, if at all rejected.

These questions

also sought to assess the extent to which implementers

were alert to and aware of the attitudes and reser­
vations or problems of people in their territory.

4.1

DECISION MAKERS IN THE EAMILY

Respondents were asked to name the family members
who would be the decision makers with regard to the

following aspects of health care.

4.1.1

Immunization of the child

75% of all respondents said that the decision to
get the child immunized would be taken by the mother

of the child.

27% of all doctors felt that this

decision would be taken by the father while only
19% of the workers expected that the father would

do so.

Indian Market Research Bureau

70

There was not much difference in responses
between districts and metros.
Total

Doctors

Workers

District

Metro

115

312
Base :
Decision of
0'
immunisation
/0
Mother of child74.7

197

264

48

O'

/0

O'
/O

O'
'0

0'
'0

69.6

77.7

74.2

77.1

Father of child21.8

27.0

18.8

22.0

20.8

Elder(Male)

1.3

0.9

1.5

1.5

Elder(Female)

1.6

0.9

2.0

2.0

The role of family elders was

on this subject.

The doctors who felt that

fathers would be the decision makers came

mainly from districts.

In metros, there was

greater consensus that the mother was the
decision maker.

4.1.2 TT for pregnant woman

There was an interesting division of opinion on
this score between districts and metros.

In the

districts some implementers felt that the concerned
woman would not be the decision maker,

The decision

to take the pregnant woman for the TT injection would
be taken by the husband or the family elder-female
(presumably the mother-in-law),

In metros, most

implementers believed that the woman concerned would
herself take the decision.

Indian Market Research Bureau

71

(?o)
Total

Doctor

Worker

District

Metro

Base :

312

115

197

264

48

Mother of child (i. e.
woman concerned)

58.7

59.1

58.4

55.7

75.0

Father of child

23.4

19.1

25.9

25.8

10.4

Family elder (male)

2.2

3.5

1.5

2.3

2.1

Family elder (female)

10.6

10.4

10.7

11.7

4.2

Others

1.9

4.3

0.5

2.3

Ref : Table A-84
It does seem peculiar that if a woman can be the decision

maker for her child's immunization, she should

be passive

with regard to immunization for herself.

The answer could
lie in the traditional self-effacement that women in India

are conditioned into practicing which makes her neglect aspects

of her own health care.

This conclusion is further supported

by the fact that the woman in the metro, who is less tradition
bound and more independent, was seen as the decision maker
more often than the district level woman.

It also reveals

that the fact that the TT injection protects the child is
not fully understood.

4.1.3 Taking a child to a doctor

in the village

For metro respondents, this question was altered to read

"taking the child to a doctor in the neighbourhood".

Only half of all respondents felt that this decision would
be taken by the mother (49.4%).

At the metro level, two

out of three respondents (66.7%) said that the mother would

be the decision maker.

The role of men seemed to become

more important in this decision of taking a child to the

Indian Market Research Bureau

72

doctor with almost 40?o of the respondents either saying

that the decision maker would be the father of the child

or the grandfather.

Total

Doctors

Workers

District

312

115

197

264

48

%

?0

%

?0

%

Mother of child

49.4

47.0

50.8

46.2

66.7

Father of child

35.6

35.7

35.5

38.3

20.8

Family elder(Male)

4.2

7.0

2.5

4.5

2.1

Family elder (Female) 5.4

3.5

6.6

6.4

Others/Don't know

6.9

4.6

4.6

Base

5.4

Metro

10.4

Ref : Table A-84
While responses from doctors and workers were very similar,
there was greater confidence in the role of the mother in
metros.
4.1.4

Taking a child to a town doctor

In metros, this was asked as ti taking the child to a doctor
in distant part of the city".

In districts, two out of three respondents said that the
father would be the decision maker.

In metros, respondents

continued to feel that mothers would be the decision makers.
However, one third of the doctors in metros felt that the

father would be the decision maker, as compared to only 19?6
of the workers in metros who felt so.

D

D
Indian Market Research Bureau

73

Total

Doctors

Workers

District

Metro

312

115

197

264

48

%

?0

O'
'0

%

%

Mother of child

30.1

31.3

29.4

23.9

64.6

Father of child

60.9

57.4

62.9

67.0

27.1

Family elder (Male)

3.5

5.2

2.5

3.8

2.1

Family elder (Female)

2.2

1.7

2.5

2.7

0

Base

Ref : Table A-84

4.1.5 Taking child to local faith healer

This was clearly seen to be the

domain of the grandmother,

followed by the mother and the grandfather.

The father of

the child, according to implementers, had little role to

play in this decision.

Total

Doctors

Workers

District

Metro

312

115

197

264

48

O'

O'
'0

%

%

%

Mother of child

26.6

29.6

24.9

21.6

54.2

Father of child

4.2

7.8

2.0

4.9

Family elder (Male)

11.5

8.7

13.2

12.9

4.2

Family elder (Female

45 .2

39.1

48.7

50.8

14.6

Base

Ref : Table A-8
Metro respondents believed once again that the mother would be
the decision maker.

In metros, therefore, most implementers clearly

believed that child health related decisions would be taken by
the child's mother.

In districts, the father and grandparents

appeared to have a larger role to play.

Indian Market Research Bureau

74

4.2

PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES TO IMMUNIZATION
Respondents were asked for their opinion with regard

to

the attitudes of people with regard to immunization.

Attitudes of those people who could directly or

indirectly influence the mother were covered,

The
overall responses for each of the influencer groups
covered were as follows :
(Base : 312)

(%)

Perceived as being
In favour
Against" Tndifrerent

Dk/us

Father of child

92.6

1.6

3.2

2.6

Mother of child

93.3

2.6

2.2

1.9

Paternal
grandfather

59.3

16.7

18.9

5.1

Paternal
grandmother

59.0

17.6

18.9

4.5

Village chief

82.4

1.0

7.4

9.3

Village elders

74.7

3.8

10.9

10.6

School teacher

91.7

0.6

2.6

5.1

Faith healer

19.6

39.4

13.5

27.6

Dai (midwife)

82.7

2.9

4.2

10.3

Ref : Table A-85
In the opinion of the respondents, except for the
faith healer, and, to some extent the grandparents,

none would be against immunization,
appears to be interesting is that

One pattern that

n

elders" appeared to
be less in favour of immunization than
than others.
others. If this
is looked at in conjunction with other data from depth

Indian Market Research Bureau

interviews where support or opposition from family elders
did seem to account for some difference between a child
being partially or fully immunized, it becomes clear that

communication needs to be aimed at elders such that negative
attitudes be changed. These negative attitudes tend to
be of two types - either they are opposed to interference
with nature or they intrinsically lack faith in the efficacy
of the injections. Communication would need to illustrate

that prevention is possible and that newer medical inventions
do call for different practices which were not the norm
in earlier generations but they can help avoid needless
disabilities and deaths which were, in fact, the norm in
earlier generations.

A table on the differences between doctor and worker opinions
is given below

:

Base

In favour of
Doctor Worker
115
197
O'
/O

O'

Father

93.0

Mother

Against
Doctor Worker
115
197

Indifferent
Doctor Worker
115
197

O'
/0

O'

'O

0'
'O

O'
'O

92.4

0.0

2.5

3.5

3.0

92.2

93.9

0.9

3.6

4.3

1.0

Grandfather

59.1

59.4

22.3

57.4

59.9

23.4

24.3
27.0

15.7

Grandmother
Village chief

7.0
7.8

74.8
66.1

86.8

0.9
0.9

1.0
5.6

8.7
14.8

14.2
6.6
8.6

89.6
17.4

92.9
20.8

0.0

3.5

2.0

36.5

1 .0
41.1

14.8

12.7

73.0

83.3

3.5

2.5

6.1

3.0

Village elder
School teacher
Faith healer
Dai (Midwife)

/O

79.0

Ref Tab;e : A-85

Indian Market Research Bureau

76

The percentages short of 100 are accounted for by the
"don't know" response. V/orkers appeared to feel more
strongly than doctors that grandparents were opposed to
immunization.

Doctors felt that grandparents, along with

other village elders and the faith healer, were merely
indifferent. To the extent that workers, being closer
to v illage folk in terms of socio-economic profile would

have their finger on the pulse, it would be prudent to
assume that the older generation

are actively opposed

rather than indifferent to immunization and tailor
communication accordingly.

Differences in opinion between district and metros
are expressed below :

In favour of
District Metro
Base

264

Against
District Metro

Indifferent
District Metro

48

264

48

264

48

%

0'
/0

?o

%

0'
'0

Father of child 91.7

97.9

1.9

3.8

Mother

92.8

95.8

3.0

2.3

2.1

Grandfather

54.9

83.3

19.3

2.1

20.8

8.3

Grandmother

54.5

83.3

20.5

2.1

20.5

10.4

Village chief

86.4

60.4

1.1

8.0

4.2*

Village elders

77.7

58.3

4.5

11.7

6.3*

School teacher

92.8

85.4

0.8

2.7

2.1

Faith healer

20.1

16.7

44.3

12.5

14.8

6.3**

Dai (Midwife)

85.6

66.7

3.0

2.1

4.2

4.2

0'

/□

35% said

I!

don't know" at the metro level
** 65% said "don't know"
at the metro level
Ref : Table A-85

ERffil

Indian Market Research Bureau

77

Much of the belief in negative attitudes was at the
district level rather than at the metro level.

Metro

respondents appeared to see very little opposition to
immunization since, in their opinion, the people in the

tBrritory were either in favour of or indifferent but
not against immunization.

Mffl DJ

Indian Market Research Bureau

78

4.3

ASSESSMENT OF OVERALL ATTITUDES OF THE PEOPLE
Four statements were read out to respondents.

They

were asked to state if,in their opinion, the statement
was true for most people in their territory,for some people

or for none.

The statements
4.3.1

are being analysed below :

Statement
H

People are aware of immunization H
Total • Doctors
Base :
312
115

Workers
197

District
264

Metro

48

Most

88.1

82.6

91 .4

88.3

87.5

Some

10.6

14.8

8.1

10.6

10.4

1.3

3.0

None
Don't know

0.5
1.1
2.1
Ref : Tables A-86, B-86, 0-86
There seemed to be a consensus of opinion on this score.
88% of the respondents were of the opinion that most people
in their territory were aware of immunization.

There were only 3 districts where more than 15% of
the respondents felt that some people were not aware of

immunization. These were Bharatpur0 (18.2%), Nadia0 (16.7%)
and Gwalior* (18.2%). In 4 districts, over 90% of the

respondents said that people were aware of immunization.

Indian Market Research Bureau

79

These were :

Hamirpur* (100%), Purnia (91.7?6), Puri+ (5.5%)
and Nanded* (90.5%).
Respondents at

sub-centre were most confident about high
levels of awareness amongst the people. 93.6% said that

most people were aware of immunization. Private practitioners,
on the other hand, were not as confident. Only 75.5% of the
private practitioners said that most people were aware of
immunization. 18.9% felt that some were aware while others
were not aware.

It is significant that not a single respondent said that

none of the people were aware of immunization.
4.3.2

Statement :

ii

People are cooperative and willing"

On this statement, too, 81% agreed that most people were
cooperative and willing. Once again, not a single respondent
said that none of the people were cooperative.

These were, however interesting differences between metros
and district and between the opinions of doctors and
workers.

Indian Market Research Bureau

80

Base :

Total

Doctors

312
Oz
zO

District
264

Metro

115

Workers
197

O'
zO

0'
z0

%

%

48

Most people

81.1

74.8

84.8

79.2

91.7

Some people
None

17.3

21.7

14.7

19.3

6.3

1 .6

3.5

0.5

1.5

2.1

Don't know/
Can’t say

Ref: Tables A-86, CB-86,
:
C-86
Workers were clearly more satisfied with the extent of
cooperation received whereas one out of 5 doctors had
reason to believe that while some people were cooperative,
others were not.

There was s clear difference between

metro and district
At the metro level, 91.7% of all respondents said that most people were cooperative and
willing.
At the district level, as many as 19% of all respondents
felt that not all respondents were cooperative.
perceptions too.

Dissatisfaction with cooperation came mostly from the
primary health centre respondents.

High____
Cooperative
Most
Some
O'
zO

Oz
zO

Hamirpur*

100

0

Bharatpur0
Iddukki+

91

92

Low
Cooperative
Most
Some
Oz
zO

0/
/O

71

29

9

Purnia0
Nadia0

50

8

Gwalior*

59

46
41

_ JWd;
Indian Market Research Bureau

81

4.3.3

Statement

"People are indifferent but do not resist"

The negative statement brought on negative to middling

responses.

However, the interesting facet of

this

statement is that while respondents were unwilling

to disagree with a positive statement, they did not
oppose a negative statement with equal strength. The

interpretation is that attitudes of the people to

immunization were not as cooperative and willing as

initially agreed by the respondents; their agreement
with the statement would include a measure of politeness;

the truth is likely to be closer to their reactions
to the negative statements.
(?o)

Total

Doctors

Workers

Districts

Metros

Base :

312

115

Most

17.9

20.0

197
16.8

264
20.5

48
4.2

Some

54.5

52.2

55.8

57.6

37.5

None

23.1

20.0

24.9

19.3

43.8

Don't know

4.5

7.8

2.5
2.7
Ref Table A-86

14.6

Over half of all respondents said that some people were
indifferent but did not resist immunization,

21% at the district

level felt that this statement was true for most people in
their territory, 44% of the metro respondents however

felt that this statement was not true for any people in their
territory. Clearly, there was greater cooperation from people
in the metros.

Indian Market Research Bureau

82

The districts which reported that most people
were indifferent were Bharatpur0 (46?o),
Allahabad (53?o) and Anantpur+ (33?6). The
districts which reported that none of the

people were indifferent were Madurai0 (75?o)
Purnia0 (38%), Puri+ (38%), Puri+ (22%) and
Nadia0 (21%).

An interesting observation here is that dis­
tricts which were reportedly not performing

well in terms of achievement of targets
reported a relatively low level of indifference.
Assuming target achievement reports are
accurate, this could mean that implementers
did not have their fingers on the pulse and
were not sensitive to the feelings of people
in their territory vis-a-vis immunization.

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83

4.3.4

Statement : "People resist immunization and have to be
coaxed"

Over

half of all respondents agreed with this statement,

too, saying that some people resisted immunization.
One out of three respondents felt that this statement
was not true for any respondents in their territory. The
details were as follows
(%)

Total

Doctors

Workers

Districts

Metros

Base :

312

115

197

264

48

Most

7.7

3.5

10.2

9.1

Some

53.2

47.8

56.3

58.3

25.0

None

33.7

41.7

28.9

27.7

66.7

5.4

7.0

4.6

4.9

8.3

Don't know

Ref: Tables A-86, 0-86
In keeping with the trend revealed earlier, resistance
was not reported in metros to the same extent to which

it was reported in districts,

The districts which

reported high resistance (i.e. responded - most people
resist immunization) were Allahabad
(27%), Anantpur* (29%)
and Nadia0 (29%). The responses from Anantpur are difficult

to explain since Anantpur otherwise emerges as an aware and
involved district.

A large number of district respondents said that some
people resisted immunization. These were

Hamirpur*

80%

Anantpur*

47%

Bharatpur0

77%

42%

Allahabad
Iddukki+

75%

Madurai 0

13%

Gwalior*

56%

Puri+

77%

Purnia0

68%

Nanded

33%

Kheda

82?o

Nadia0

50%

Indian Market Research Bureau

84

There appeared to be no pattern by reported target achievement
levels. The districts which
reported least resistance were
Madurai0 (75?6) and Nanded* (67%).

An analysis of the responses by type of health centre shows
that respondents at the PHC and PHS levels reported higher

resistance than those at the headquarters,
reported least resistance.

Base :
People resist immuni­
zation
Most
Some
None

Meanscore
(Max = 3)

Private practitioners

Government
hospitals
102

PHC
63

O'
'0

O'
>0

O'

/□

O'

O'
/O

8.8
47.1

7.9

9.6

1.9

63.5

60.6

39.6

0
25.0

40.2

27.0

24.5

45.3

66.7

1.6

1.8

1.7

1.3

1.2

PHS
94

Private
53
'0

Metro
level
48

Ref : Table B-86
The pattern indicates that as urbanization increases,
cooperation tends to increase.

MB

Indian Market Research Bureau

85

4.4

REFUSALS

The last statement was verified once again by means

of a direct question that sought to understand if

parents of eligible children ever refused vaccinations
even when efforts were made to persuade and convince
them.

Once again, responses were coded as most, some, and
none refuse.

The details are given below :

(%)

Refusals

Total

Doctors

Workers

Districts

Metros

Base :
Most

312
2.9

115
0.9

197
4.1

264
3.4

48
0

Some

50.0

45.2

52.8

56.4

14.6

None

47.1

53.9

43.1

40.2

85.2

Ref : Table A-87
In keeping with earlier reporting patterns, metro
respondents stated that by and large, none of the parents
refused vaccinations,

in agreement

uver
Over nan
half or
of an
all doctors were

with that statement.

Workers, particularly

at the district levels, reported some refusals.
By giving a score of 3 to the statement that "most
refuse”, 2 to the statement " some refuse" and 1 to the
statement "none refuse", the mean scores arrived at result in
the following table.

W

Indian Market Research Bureau

86

Mean score

(max = 3

: Most refuse; min = 1 : None refuse)

Overall

1.56

Doctors

1.47

Workers

1 .61

Government
PHO

1.63

PHS

1.69

Private

1.32

District
Metro

1.63

1.15

1.51

Districts
North

South

Hamirpur* : 1.35
Allahabad4" : 1.9
Bharatpur0 : 1.7

Anantpur*:1.25
Iddukki + :1.6
Madurai0 : 1.4

East
Puri

:1.8
Nadia0 :1.7
Purnia0 : 2.1

West

Gwalior* ; 1.9

Nanded*
Kheda

: 1.4
: 1.6

Ref : Tables B-87, C-87

Indian Market Research Bureau

87

4.4.1

Profile of the refusers
The profile of the people who refused vaccinations,

as perceived by the implementers, was as follows :

(Base = 165)
Description

Who gave this
description
O'
/0

Illiterate/uneducated

69.1

Backward classes

18.2

Labourers

17.6

Poor people

14.5

Orthodox people

8.5

Muslims

8.5

People with blind faith in God or
in faith healers

7.9

Farmers/cultivators

5.5

People who had a bad experience
with immunization

4.2

Elderly people

3.6

Anybody - does not differ by caste,
education, social status

3.6

Ref : Table A-88
Clearly, one dominating feature that seemed to set
the "refusers" apart in the opinion of the imple­

mentor was lack of education or literacy.

Other

features such as poverty and backwardness could be

additional but

would, by that very fact, include

illiteracy.

Indian Market Research Bureau

88

It must be remembered that the question on the profile
of the refuser was an open-ended one.

The responses

received were spontaneous.

4.4.2

Reasons for

refusal

In the opinion of those who were implementing the

programme, the main reasons for refusing permission

to immunize a child were as follows
% who gave this reason

Total

Doctors

Workers

165

53

112

Lack of education
and belief in
38.8
vaccines

47.2

34.8

Fear of fever

27.3

11.3

34.8

Fear of adverse
reaction

20.6

18.9

21 .4

Traditional beliefs/
customs
17.6

18.9

17.0

Fear of pain/
swelling

6.7

3.8

8.0

Bad experience
with vaccination

5.5

11.3

2.7

Don't see need to
vaccinate healthy
child

5.5

3.8

6.3

Wage loss due to
fever because of
vaccines

5.5

3.8

6.3

Base
Reasons

.

Ref : Table A-89

D
D

Indian Market Research Bureau

89

Other reasons, given by a couple of respondents each
were
because child will cry (workers)

people do not understand benefit (doctors)
vaccination time inconvenient (doctor/worker)
fatalistic (worker)
prefer to go to private doctor (worker)
afraid that it may be family planning
injection (worker)

Once again, these responses were open-ended and
spontaneous.

The reasons may be supported by

relatively small numbers but serve to illustrate

the range of reasons

that could exist that result in

vaccination services being refused.

The ranking of

reasons in terms of the frequency of mention serves
to indicate the extent to which each reason was

spontaneously believed in.

However, since the

research design was qualitative in nature, the
ranking serves only as an illustration and need

not necessarily reflect the relative importance of each
reason as being true for the relevant universe.

UtAJD)

Indian Market Research Bureau

90

4.4.3

Possible methods of persuasion

A few methods were suggested by the respondents, once

again on a spontaneous basis.

Base : 165
Methods

1.

2.
3.

These were as follows :

% who suggested
Total

Doctors

Person-to-person contact
and education

54

64

49

Education through
documentary films

39

39

39

Local leaders should
be involved

19

25

16

4

4

4

7

2

4

4.

Economic

5.

Make vaccination
compulsory/use force

help

Workers

Ref : Table A-90
The main focus of the methods suggested revolved around

education of the target audience.

The important point

to be noted here is that both suggestions pertaining to
education involved audio-visual communication - one was
person-to-person where the trainer would be physically

present to explain, answer, interact and demonstrate.
The other was through documentary films.

We believe that respondents were trying to emphasise
(but

could not articulate the same) that communication

had to be active, something that reached out and held
the attention of the target audience.

Thus, they were

referring to dynamic, aggressive methods of communication
rather than inert, passive methods (for example, the
print medium, posters, banners).

JBffl D
D

Indian Market Research Bureau

91

Implicit in the choice of these type of active media

could be an understanding that the rural/semi-urban

parent did not have the education and therefore the
understanding or interest to absorb the importance
or the scope of immunization, A passive medium could
get ignored, The medium had to grab the attention
and convince.
The other methods suggested revolved around force,

either implicit as in involving local leaders or explicit as in
using force or making vaccination compulsory.

The

numbers in favour of the latter two suggestions were,
however, very few.

MW

Indian Market Research Bureau

92

4.5

ATTITUDES OF THE IMPLEMENTERS

A set of statements were read out to the respondents,
They were asked to agree or disagree with each of the
statements on the basis of their personal opinion,
beliefs or feelings. Each of the statements are

being set out below and the responses are being
analysed for each.

4.5.1

Statements regarding

a/

implementers attitude to his work

Statement :

"Convincing people to get their child
immunized is frustrating work"

27% of all respondents agreed with this statement.
Workers and district level respondents expressed
more frustration than doctors and metro level
respondents.
(?o)

Total
312
27.2

Doctors
115
19.1

Workers
197
32.0

District
264
29.9

Metro

Base
Agree

Disagree

72.1

80.0

67.5

69.3

87.5

Not speci­
fied

0.6

0.9

0.5

0.8

48
12.5

Ref: Table A-103
These comments are consistent with those made
earlier that there was greater resistance from

district level parents than those in the metros.
One out of three workers expressed frustration.

Since agreement with the above statement would not

BfflM
Indian Market Research Bureau

95

reflect too well on the respondent it would be
realistic to assume that the level of frustration is
The fact that doctors

in fact higher than stated.

expressed low agreement could be a reflection of their

lesser role in the job of persuasion.

The highest

level of agreement came from sub-centre respondents
which supports the hypothesis of increasing resistance

with decreasing urbanization.

b/

Statement : "This job involves important and useful
work"
99% of all respondents agreed with this
statement, with the figure rising to 100% in the

metros.

There was clearly no dispute on the importance

and usefulness of this work.

c/

Statement : "Working with illiterate people can be
boring and tiring" -

For a socially unacceptable

statement, this received a high level of agreement at
41% of all respondents.
(%)

Base :
Agree

Total
312
41.0

Poet s
115
41.7

Workers
197
40.6

District
264
43.9

Metro
48
25.0

Disagree

58.3

57.4

58.9

55.7

72.9

Not specified

0.6

0.9

0.5

0.4

2.1

Ref : Table A-103
There was little difference between doctors and workers
in terms of their agreement with this statement. In the
metros, however, 73% of all respondents disagreed with

this statement.

Indian Market Research Bureau

3^

d/

Statement

"I would prefer to work in a town rather

than in a village”

40% of all respondents agreed with this statement.

More doctors than workers agreed with this statement.
(%)
Total Doctors Workers District Metro
Base :
312
115
197
264
48
Agree
40.4
52.2
33.5
39.4
45.8
Disagree

58.0

45.2

65.5

58.7

Not specified

1.6

2.6

1.0

1.9

54.2

Ref : Table A-103
It was significant that two out of three workers

disagreed with this statement indicating that they
were quite satisfied with the idea of working in

rural areas.

66.5% of the workers in districts

disagreed with this statement; 57% of workers in
metros also felt the same way.

Doctors on the other

hand expressed a higher desire to work in urban areas.

4.5.2

Statements regarding implementers understanding of

attitudes of the people

a/

:

Statement : "People here do not really believe

that vaccinations can prevent disease”
The majority disagreed with this statement. They

believed, therefore, that people had faith in the

concept of immunization.

The acceptance of immu­

nization was, by that logic, a conscious aware
acceptance rather than an unthinking or cynical
compliance.

TB

Indian Market Research Bureau

95

(%)

Total

Base :

Doctors Workers

District

Metro

197

204

48

8.7

16.8

15.5

4.2

91.3

82.7

84.1

95.8

0.5

0.4

312

115

Agree

13.8

Disagree

85.9

Not specified

0.3

Ref : Table A-103
The differences between district and metro attitudes begin
to fall into a pattern. The understanding of and belief

in immunization was clearly higher in metros,

Workers in

metros were all in disagreement (100?o) with the statement,
19% of the workers in districts agreed with the statement
though only 9% of the doctors did so.

The higher agreement by workers could be a function of their close contact
with the people and therefore needs to be taken seriously,

Highest agreement came from respondents in sub -centre

villages.
b/

Statement : " People suspect that vaccinations are not
given for the prevention of disease but some other motive"

As with the earlier statement, over 80% disagreed with it,
reinforcing

the finding that the attitude of the average

receipient of immunization was neither skeptical nor
suspicious.

However, a higher percentage of workers in

districts agreed with this statement as compared even to this
the earlier one.

None of the workers in the metros agreed
with this statement.
(%)

Total
Base :
Agree

312
16.0

Doctors
115
10.4

Workers
1-97
19.3

District
204
17.8

Metro
48
6.3

Disagree

83.7

89.6

80.2

81.8

93.8

Not specified

0.3

0.5

0.4

Ref : Table A-103

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Thus, while suspicion regard immunization was not
a major problem, it would deserve some attention in

areas.
rural areas.

In sub-centre villages, 23.4% of

respondents (almost one out of every four) agreed
with this statement.

V/hile experience and the

percolation effect from urban to rural areas would
in time create greater confidence, it would be

necessary to be aware that, in small villages, some
suspicion and skepticism exists and would have to be
handled with explanations and patience.
c/

Statement :

ii

Once a child has been vaccinated, people

will come forward on their own to get their next

child vaccinated"

The idea behind this statement had been to see if.

in the opinion of implementers, parents understood
the benefits of immunization well enough to be self­

motivated after an initial introduction.
89% agreed that this would be so.

Both doctors and

workers were in equal agreement on this score.
(%)

Total

Doctors

V/orkers

District

Metro

Base :

312

115

197

204

48

Agree

89.4

88.7

89.8

88.6

93.8

Disagree

9.9

11.3

9.1

10.6

6.3

Not specified

0.6

1.0

0.8

Ref : Table A-103

UMnw
Indian Market Research Bureau

97

Only 10% of all respondents disagreed with this state­

ment.

This faith in parents becoming self motivated

augurs well for the long-term functioning of the EPI

programme since, in the final analysis, persuasion
would have to stop and a demand for immunization services

from the target audience should begin.

14% of the respondents in sub-centre villages disagreed

with this statement, again confirming the conclusion
that parents in rural areas would need more attention

in order to help them overcome suspicion, doubt and
indi f ference.

4.5.3

Statements related to knowledge regarding immunization

a/

Statement

TT and DPT vaccines should not be
allowed to freeze ii
The correct answer to this statement would be in the

affirmative.

However, 24% of all respondents

disagreed with this statement revealing that, in
their opinion, freezing these vaccines would be

acceptable.

The proportion at 24?6 is disturbingly

high since freezing, if being actually practiced,
could be damaging a large proportion of vaccines.

This incorrect knowledge was more widely held in
metros, where 33.3% of all doctors and 23.8% of

workers disagreed with the statement.

Indian Market Research Bureau

98
(%)

Total

Doctors

Workers

District

Metro

Base :

312

115

197

264

48

Agree

74.7

84.3

69.0

75.4

70.8

Disagree

24.4

15.7

29.4

23.5

29.2

Not specified

1.0

1.5

1.1

Ref : Table A-103
The doctors who most widely agreed with this statement

were private practitioners (Agree - 79.2%).

The level

of agreement by type of health centre was as follows :
(%)

Base

Agree

Disagree

Govt hospital/dispensary

102

75

25

Primary health centre

63

79

21

Health sub-centre

94

69

29

Private practitloner/hospitai

53

79

19

Ref : Table B-103
The misconceptions therefore were higher amongst

implementers in the govt health network.

b/

Statement :

"Keeping vaccines at room temperature for

2-3 hours is okay"

Once again, this statement was clearly erroneous and

should have been disagreed with.

Instead, as many as

24% of all respondents agreed with this statement.

Agreement, and the misconception implicit within that,
came more from districts than from metros.

(?o)

Total

Doctors

Workers

District

Metro

Base :
Agree

312
23.7

115
22.6

197
24.4

264
25.0

48
16.7

Disagree

75.3

77.4

74.1

74.2

81.3

Not specified

1 .0

1.5

0.8

2.0

Ref : Table A-103

EMW
Indian Market Research Bureau

99

It would appear that while implementers in metros
err on the side of freezing vaccines, at the district
level implementers err on the side of allowing vaccines

to become warm.

If this statement is looked at together

with the earlier question (Refer section 2.2) where 48%
of the implementers at the district level would not

throw away a half - used vial and 68% would not throw
away a vial of which less than half had been used, the

implications cause concern.

Chances are that one out of

8 implementers would put a vial back in the fridge after

having left it at room temperature for 2-3 hours and
re-use the vaccine from that vial.
4.5.4
a/

Statements regarding practices
Statement :

"The cold chain system beyond the HQ
hospital is very weak and breaks down easily"

45% of all implementers in the districts agreed with
this statement. 50% of the implementers in metros
agreed with this statement.

However, since the metro
respondents were not talking on the basis of experience

but on the basis of perceptions and hearsay, their
views are not of orimarv
primary concern.
(%)

Base :

Total

Doctors

Workers

PHC

PHS

264

88

176

63

94

0'
/0

Oz
zO

?0

O'
/O

%

Agreed

45.1

48.9

43.2

30.2

47.9

Disagreed

51.5

45.5

54.5

66.7

51.1

Not specified

3.4

5.7

2.3

3.2

1.1

Ref : Table A-103

*■

D
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Indian Market Research Bureau

100

Firstly, that

Two factors emerge from this analysis.

doctors spoke of cold chain breakdowns more than workers
did, albeit only marginally so.
so.

Secondly, breakdown

problems seemed to occur more at the sub-centre level
than at the primary health centre level.
but nevertneless an area

This is logical

that would need attention if

people in interior villages are to benefit from

effective immunization.

b/

Statement : "Most vaccines loose potency because it is

impossible to maintain them at the correct temperature"

The extent of agreement with this statement is a cause
for grave concern.

As many as 62?;, almost two out of

three implementers, agreed with this statement,

The

details vjere as follows :
(%)

Base :
Agree

Total
312
62.2

Disagree

36.2

Not specified

1.6

Doctors Workers District Metro
115
197
264
48
66.1
59.9
61 .0
68.8
32.2
38.6
37.5
29.2
1.7

1.5

1.5

Ref : Table
There was greater agreement at the metro level where,

2.0

A-103

pnma facie, there appears to be less cause for difficulty
in maintaining vaccines at correct temperatures.

The

agreement in metros came from doctors (74?;) than from
workers.

The same was true for districts.

Indian Market Research Bureau

101

An analysis by type of centre reveals the following :
(%)

Govt
hospitals

PHC

PHS

Private

Base :

102

63

94

53

Agree

62.2

72.5

50.8

67.9

Disagree

36.2

26.5

47.6

28.3

Not specified

1.6

1.0

1 .6

3.8

Ref : Table B-103
PHS respondents contradict themselves on this score.
While 4856 had agreed that the cold chain system breaks

down easily, an almost equal number did not agree that
vaccines lost their potency because of the same
problem. This could either mean that their under­
standing of the cold chain was faulty, or their
understanding of vaccines and the maintainence of

vaccines potency was faulty or both.

Indian Market Research Bureau

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102

4.6

BRINGING THE CHILD FOR IMMUNIZATION

The child was normally brought for immunization by
the mother.
dents.

This was revealed by 99?o of all respon­

Only 3 respondents said that the child was

normally brought by the father.
However, 76% of the respondents said that the child
would sometimes be brought by the father. 41% were
of the opinion that sometimes a grandparent brought the

child.

The father or grandparent accounted for most of those
occasions when the mother did not bring the child.
Some others who were spontaneously mentioned by a few

respondents, were, in order of priority.

Brother or sister of the child

9.3%

Women, other than mother

4.8%

Uncle
Aunt/Sister-in-law

4.5?6

Anganwadi/Health worker

1 .6%

4.5%

Ref : Table A-79

Iffl D

D.

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A.7

KEEPING TRACK OF DUE DATES
The methods of keeping track as revealed by respondents

could be broadly divided into 2 categories :

those which did not involve actual implementer
participation and could be termed ’’parent-oriented ft

meaning that the onus of keeping track lay with the
parent.

.

In this category were three methods

Cards given to parents and referred to by them
for the due vaccination dates
Fixed days advertised
Parents check with worker

those which involved active implementer partici­

pation and where parents play a relatively passive
role.

In this category were the following methods :

Parents are reminded
Parents are called on due date

Vaccination given at the house on due date
Worker goes to the house and fetches
The two categories were not mutually exclusive and

often co-existed.

However, there were differences

by district and these differences revealed the level
of active participation that implementers maintained

to ensure complete immunization.

0}

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104

A look at each district in terms of the broad

methods of keeping track of dates reveal the

following picture.
(%)

North

Base
(Nos.)

Parentoriented

Implementer
oriented

Overlap

Hamirpur*

20

65

40

5

Bharatpur0

22

59

45

4

Allahabad+

15

67

40

7

Anantpur*

24

92

21

13

Iddukki+

24

58

54

12

Madurai0

24

88

88

76

Purnia0

24

38

67

5

Nadia0

24

75

100

75

Puri+

22

73

50

23

Gwalior*

22

86

32

18

Kheda+

22

91

14

5

Nanded*

21

57

86

43

So jth

East

West

Ref : Table C-81
Barring a few districts, the majority of the districts
seemed to rely predominantly on parent-oriented methods

of keeping track of dates.
The overall dependence on the various methods listed

earlier was as follows :

D

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Indian Market Research Bureau

105

Total

District

Metro

O'
/□

C'

/O

O'
/O

81.3

Cards are given

71.5

69.7

Fixed days are advertised
Parents check v/ith worker

0.3

0.4

0.6

0.8

Parents are reminded
Parents are called on
due date

34.0

37.9

12.5

10.9

11.7

6.3

Vaccination given at home
on due date

2.2

2.3

2.1

Worker goes house-to house
and fetches

1.9

1.9

2.1

Ref : Table A-81
There was clearly greater intervention and effort made
by implementers at the districts than at the metros.
In the districts, there was also greater use of
simultaneous reminder methods than in the metros.

BW n
D

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106

5.0

PRACTICE RELATED ISSUES

5.1

PRESERVATION OF VACCINES FOR OUTREACH SESSIONS

5.1.1

Transportation
All respondents who ever moved out to outreach centres

to implement the EPI programme were asked a few questions
to establish whether vaccines were being transported to
outreach camps in a manner that would help preserve
their potency.

It was a question that was difficult to get an honest
response to since the correct answer would be known to
most respondents, The objective, however, had been to
ascertain the actual practice rather than test knowledge
of correct answer.

Respondents were therefore asked to
describe how they wouldI carry vaccines for an outreach

Interviewers 1were briefed to probe till they
understood the answer fully but to not prompt.
session.

The responses received were coded in
a code list that
had attempted to differentiate between responses that

included the mention of ice and those which did not.
Of those who gave any reply to this question (234
respondents), the responses were as follows :

iQMtOilH)
Indian Market Research Bureau

107

Those who said

-

only

%

Carry in vaccine carrier

26.5 *

Vials in plastic bag in carrier
In vaccine carrier with ice
In vaccine carrier with frozen ice
pack

1.3 *
25.6
24.8

With ice packs filled with cold
water

1.7

In thermos with ice

3.8

In an ice-box

5.6 *

Kidney tray

0.4

No special care required

0.9
Ref : Table A-61

The remaining 9.4% gave a combination of the above

responses.

The areas of concern surrounds those responses which
did not specifically mention ice or frozen ice packs

(Marked by an aesterisk * ).

It could be assumed that

the respondents meant to include ice when they used

words such as vaccine carrier or ice box.

If that

assumption were true, there would be no cause for

worry since almost 90% of the respondents would then

have been using acceptable methods of vaccine trans­
portation.

If, however, it is assumed that non-

mention of ice or ice packs means non-use, there
would because for concern since in that case only 67%

of the respondents would have been transporting
vaccines as required.

w

Indian Market Reseaich Bureau

l!

108

5.1.2

Placement of vaccine during an immunization session

Proper preservation of vaccines requires that vaccines

be kept at a cool temperature (+4°C to +8°C) from the
time of manufacture to the time of injection,

It would
therefore be important for implementors to preserve
vaccines in a cup of ice during the session.
Out of the 261 respondents who were involved in outreach

camps (these included 12 private practitioners/workers

in private clinics)

40% put the vials in a cup of ice

during the session.

Another 28% attempted to keep the

vaccine cool by putting it on top of an ice pack or in
a plastic bag filled with ice during the session.

An

additional 13.8% put the vaccine back in the vaccine
carrier. Thus, 82% revealed practices that were correct
(or at least acceptable) as well as an awareness of the
need for special care of the vaccines during a session.
The details of these responses are as follows :

Base :
Acceptable practices

Total

PHC

PH5

Doctor

Worker

261

62

94

81

180

O'
'0

%

%

?0

%

1.

In a cup of ice

40.2

37.1 42.6

40.7

40.0

2.

On top of an ice pack

20.3

14.5 30.9

18.5

21.1

3.

Ice bag/plastic bag
filled with ice

8.0

8.1

6.2

8.9

9.6

Ref : Tables A-62, B-62

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109

Total

4.

Put back in carrier

PHC

PHS

Doctor

Worker

?0

O'

/O

%

%

0/
/O

13.8

25.8

10.6

8.6

16.1

Dubious practices
1.

On table/tray

8.8

8.1

8.5

7.4

9.5

2.

In cup with water

3s 1

1.6

1.1

2.5

3.3

3.

In shade

1.5

3.2

1.0

2.5

1.1

4.

In plastic cover

1.5

1.6

1.1

1.2

1.7

5.

Polio vaccine gets
put on ice

1.1

1.6

1.1

1.2

1.1

6.

At room temperature

0.8

7

Only one vial carried
out of the clinic
0.8

2.5

3.2

0

1.2

0.6

Ref : Table A-62, C-62

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5.2

STERILIZATION

5.2.1

Place
Needles and syringes were sterilized in equal measure
either at the health centre or at the outreach camp.

The other place was at the house of the child, though
this was mentioned by only a few respondents,

There

was not much difference in responses between doctors
and workers.

The details are as follows :

Place

Total Doctors Workers

Govt
Hospt

PHC

Pvt
PHS Hospt

Base

261

180

198

62

94

7

%

0'
zO

%

O'
/O

%

81
O'
/O

At centre

50.5

53.1

49.4

55.1

46.8

44.7 57.1

At camp

48.7

39.5

52.8

39.8

54.8

55.3 28.6

At house of child

3.1

2.5

3.3

5.1

1.6

1.1 14.3

Ref : Tables A-63,B-63
Only one respondent said that he used disposable
syringes and therefore did not sterilize the needles.
Instruments were mostly sterilized before a session
rather than during a session.

Only a small proportion

of respondents sterilized after a session to keep ready
for the next session.

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Indian Market Research Bureau

111

T ime

Total

Doctor

Worker

Govt
Hospt

PHC

PHS

Pvt
Hospt

Base

261

81

180

98

161

94

7

/O

O'
zO

O'
zO

?0

?0

%

74.5

57.1

%

O'

Before session

76.6

75.3

77.2

74.5

85.5

After session

4.2

3.7

4.4

7.1

4.8

During session

20.3

17.3

21.7

19.4

8.1

5.2.2

Method :

28.7

28.6

Ref : Table A-64, B-64
The most common method of sterilizing instruments

was by boiling.

77.6% of all respondents used this method

The duration for which instruments were boiled

di ffered

14.3

however,

as follows :

Method

Total

Doctors

Workers

Base

312

115

197

O'
zO

O'
zO

O'
zO

77.6

67.0

83.8

1 - 10 minutes

13.5

12.2

14.2

11

20 minutes

36.2

22.6

44.2

21

30 minutes

24.0

27.0

22.3

45 minutes

3.2

5.2

2.0

60 minutes

0.6

0.0

1.0

Autoclave

15.4

21.7

11.7

Keep it in hot water

1.0

0.9

1.0

Use a sterilizer

0.3

0.9

Disposable : not sterilized

3.5

5.2

2.5

Not specified

2.2

4.3

1.0

Boiling

Ref : Table A-65
Almost 5O?6 of all respondents (35?o of doctors and 58%
of workers) boiled the instruments for less than 20

minutes.

Added to this is another finding which pertains

to the understanding of boiling instruction.

Some res-

Indian Market Research Bureau

112

pondents had mentioned that boiling time included time
Thus, if they

taken for water to reach boiling point.

were instructed to boil instruments for 20 minutes,

they would put the instruments in ordinary water, put
the pan on the flame and count 20 minutes from that

point onwards.

While it is not necessarily true that all implementers
interpreted boiling time in this manner, it would be

erring on the safer side to assume that all those who
claimed to boil for 20 minutes or less were not
achieving effective sterilization.

By that standard, sterilization methods could be
broadly broken up as follows :
Total
312

Base

Doctor
115

Worker
197

0'

0'

/O

O'
'0

46.7

59.1

39.5

(Boil less than 20 minutes,
Keep in hot water, use
sterilizer)

51.0

36.6

59.4

Not specified

2.2

4.3

1.0

/0

Effective
(Boil 21+ minutes, auto­
clave, disposable)

Ineffective

Ref : Table A-65
Clearly, doctors reported more effective practices
than workers.

The overall picture however, causes

Indian Market Research Bureau

113

concern.

There appears to be a case for stronger
training in the area of sterilization of instruments
with particular emphasis on :
definition of duration of boiling
the importance of effective sterilization

rw w

Indian Market Research Bureau

114

5.3

AVAILABILITY OF CONSUMABLES

The majority of the respondents reported regular

supply of six items which were being studied.

The order in terms of regularity of supply was as

follows :
% Who said it was regularly available :

(?o)

Total

District

Metro

Base :
DPT vaccine

312
90.7

264
91.3

48
87.5

TT vaccine

89.4

91.3

79.2

OPV

80.8

80.3

83.3

Measles vaccine

80.8

81 .4

77.1

Vaccine cards

72.1

73.5

64.6

BCG vaccine

63.8

63.6

64.6

Ref : Table A-26
It would be pertinent to look at this data by
district. (Ref Table C-26)

5.3.1

DPT vaccine
91.3% of all respondents at the district level
reported that they received regular supply of DPT
vaccines.

Only 7.2% felt that the supply was

irregular.

The districts which reported an above-

average irregularity of supply were Madurai0
(16-7% said irregular) and Gwalior* (13.6%).

Except for one respondent in Anantpur*, none
reported that the DPT vaccine had never been

received.

Indian Mai tel Rtscaxui 2-reau

115

5.3.2

TT vaccine

91.3% of the respondents in districts said that they
received a regular supply of the TT vaccine.

Irregular supply was reported from Madurai (20.8%)
and Nanded* (19%).

Three respondents in Madurai0

(12.5%) and one in Purnia0 said that the TT vaccine
had never been received.

This could, however, be

a reflection on their awareness rather than actual

supply.

5.3.3

OPV vaccine

Regular supply was reported by 80.3% of the district

respondents.

However, 17.8% said that the supply

was irregular which is higher than reported for

for DPT (7.2%) and TT (6.1%).

The factor that causes concern however is that the

district average of 17.8?6 was a result of some

districts which reported very high level of
irregularity.

These were Hamirpur* (60%),

Gwalior * (41%), Nanded* (29%), Purnia0 (29%)
and Madurai0 (21%).

3 out of these 5 districts

are high performance districts.
5.3.4

Measles vaccine
81.4?6 of the district level respondents said that they
received a regular supply of the measles vaccine.

Indian Market Research Bureau

116

(The supply in the metros was not quite as regular).
Complaints with regard to irregular supply or non­
receipt were focussed around the South zone districts
and Purnia0. Details are as follows :

Irregular

Never

0'
'0

5.3.5

%

District average

11.0

4.5

South :

Anantpur*
Iddukki+

8.3

8.3

16.7

12.5

Madurai0

25.0

4.2

East :

Purnia0

20.8

20.8

West :

Nanded*

23.8

Cwalior*

18.2

Ref ; Table 0-26
Vaccine cards

73.5% of all respondents at the district level reported
that vaccine cards were regularly received. 7.2%

reported irregular supply.

The factor that causes

concern, however, is that 12.5% of all respondents said
that they had never received vaccine cards, There was
no difference between the"never received" claim made
by doctors and workers. At the district level, 12.5?6 in

each group said that these cards had never been received.
Thus, it is unlikely that the non-receipt complaint
could be based on non-awareness.

Indian Market Research Bureau

117

Complaints of non-receipt and irregular supply came mainly

from the following districts.
(%)

Irregular

Never

Not specified

Purnia0

29.2

50.0

8.3

Nanded*

4.8

47.6

4.8

16.7

25.0

Iddukki+

Allahabad+

26.7

6.7

Anantpur*

Madurai0
5.3.6

20.8
12.5

4.2

4.2

Ref : Table C-26
BCG Vaccine
The largest problem seemed to be in the area of BCG
vaccine supplies. At the district level, only 63.6%

claimed regular supply.

As many as 24.6% (one out of
every four respondents) said that the supply was irregular

while 7.2% said that it had never been received.
There were some patterns here that were different.
Firstly, as in the case of the measles vaccine, a greater

proportion of respondents in metros (16.7%) claimed that

they had never received the measles vaccine.

Secondly

at the district level, 17% of the doctors said that the
BCG vaccine had never been received as compared to only

2% of the workers who said so.

This was the only item

for which a larger proportion of doctors claimed nonreceipt.
The highest non-receipt complaints came from the South

zone districts followed by the East zone districts.

District-wise data is as follows :

Indian Market Research Bureau

118

_____ Supply of BCG Vaccine____
Regular Irregular Never Not specified
North :

South :

East :

West :

%

<0

Hamirpur*

50

30

Bharatpur0

68

23

5

5

Allahabad

68

7

13

13

Anantpur*
Iddukki+

54

17

29

33

58

8

Madurai0

46

38

13

Purnia0
Nadia0

42
83

46

13

Puri+

91

9

Gwalior*
Kheda+

86

14

77
71

9

Nanded

?0

0'

/0

20

4

17

5

20

9
9

Ref: Table 0-26
Anantpur, inspite of being a ii good performance " district
had close to 30% of respondents claiming that the BCG
vaccine had never been received. There is a discrepancy
between such a claim and high achievement of targets.

Indian Market Research Bureau

119

5.4

POSTERS/TIN PLATES

Posters and tin plates on the subjects of polio,

tetanus and TB had been made and distributed amongst
UIP districts.

Respondents were questioned with

regard to receipt

and use of posters/tin plates

and their opinion on each of the poster/tin plate

types.

5.4.1

Receipt of posters/tin plates
Almost 80% of all respondents said that they had

received these posters/tin plates.

This figure was

much higher at the PHC and PHS levels where an
affirmative response was given by 90.5% and 94.7% of

respondents respectively.

83.3% of the people in

government hospitals or dispensaries said that they

had received the posters.

In contrast only 32.1% of

private practitioners had received any posters.

There were differences between districts and metros
and between doctor and worker responses.
(%)

Base

Total
312

Doctor
115

Worker
197

O'

O'
zO

O'
/O

Yes

79.5

68.7

85.8

No

20.5

31.3

?0

District
264

Metro
48

84.8

50.0

O'
zO

14.2
15.2
50.0
Ref : Table A-97
All those who said that posters/tin plates had been
provided were asked to state the total number of posters

received.

Doctors said on an average, that 150 posters/

IMB
Indian Market Research Bureau

120

tin plates had been received while workers said that

closer to 90 posters had been received.

The figures
were higher where looked at specifically by district
and by metro.
____ District
Metro
Doctor Worker Total
Doctor Worker

Total

Average
numbers
received

34

170

95

117

53

7

Ref : Table A-98
There were wide zonal variations. In the North and South
zones, an
an average of 267 and 151 posters/tin plates were
mentioned by each respondent.

In the East and West zones,

an average of 46 posters/tin plates were mentioned.
Within zones too there were district-wise variations that
were wide enough to merit individual mention here.
Average number of
posters/tin plates
received

Hamirpur*

178

Bharatpur0
Allahabad+

335

245

Anantpur*
Iddukki+

50
100

Madurai0

291

Purnia0
Nadia0
Puri+
Gwalior*
Kheda+

74
25
42
6
138

Nanded*

10

Ref: Table 0-98

Indian Market Research Bureau

121

Barring Hamirpur*,' there seemed to be an inverse
relationship between the good performance districts

and the posters received by them.

Low performance

districts namely Bharatpur0 and Madurai0 reported the

highest receipt of posters
5.4.2

Types of posters received

There were seven basic pictures that were converted
into posters and tin plates and distributed amongst

health centres.

This study showed that each poster and tin plate had
been received by between 65-70% of all respondents of
There was considerable amount of multiple receipt.

Each respondent reported receipt of, on an average,
4.9 types of posters and 4.6 types of tin plates.

Interviewers had been asked to report on display of

posters and tin plates on the basis of actual sighting
of the same rather than by questioning the respondents.
Either posters or tin plates were reported to have

been displayed inside the health centre in 39-46% of
the interviews and outside the health centre in 32-35%

of the interviews.

Indian Market Research Bureau

122

Looking at display data specifically by type of picture

and type of health centre, the
the following picture
emerges.

Base: To whom
provided

Govt Hospt.

PHC

PHS

85

57

89

In

Out

?0

O'
.0

None

In

Out

None

In

Out

None

%

?0

0/
/O

0'
'0

?o

%

%

Mother & dead child

47

38

28

39

39

46

Father & child

39

26

40

47

37

31

44

39

42

Polio boy standing

39

25

52

48

41

28

46

37

49

Polio boy crawling

42

26

47

47

41

29

44

42

42

TB-node on neck

43

26

48

45

39

27

44

42

IT bandaged head

40

42

21

48

45

40

31

49

39

42

TT tube in nose

44

26

48

45

41

25

42

35

46

40

26

44

Ret : Table B-101
5.4.3

Rating of posters
All respondents were asked to rate the
posters on a 5-point
scale ranging from excellent to
poor. The ratings were given
a score such that an excellent rating would receive a score

of 5 while a poor rating would receive

a score of 14 The
ratings received by each of the six types of
posters/tin
plates on an overall basis are as follows :

Indian Market Research Bureau

123

Appendix
Number

Picture

I

Mother & dead child

3.5

II

Father and child

3.2

III

Polio boy standing

3.7

IV

Polio boy crawling

3?8

V

TB-node on neck

3.2

VI

TT-bandaged head

3.5

VII

TT-tube in nose

3.3

Mean Score
(Max = 5 = Excellent)

Ref : Table A-102

The differences are not wide.

However, they do reveal
a trend in terms of the type of pictures that were highly

rated by implementers.

a/

The top two



The highest ratings were given to the

two polio pictures (III & IVL

explanations for this.

There could be several

Firstly, direct interaction

with mothers of young children revealed that the fear
of disability was greater than the fear of death.

Secondly, polio was a widely recognised and feared

disease.

The poster therefore portrayed something

that was both known and feared; it would have aroused

dread and curiosity with regard to the purpose of such
a poster which in turn would serve as the mother's
point of introduction to immunization.
Another hypothesis is that the picture of a boy
suffering from polio would be more likely to strike
an answering chord in the viewer as she (the mother)

lufaBi Mar^zt Research Buieau

124

could have come across a lame child before.

This

disability would therefore appear real and possible.
The other pictures possibly do not arouse the same

fear since they fall outside the average rural mother's
range of experience.

Finally, we have stated a hypothesis in our analysis
of mother's attitudes and practices namely that the

mothers does not really understand the full scope of
immunization in the sense of the diseases against
which protection is provided and the gravity of these

diseases.

However, she knows and dreads polio and

possibly accepts or seeks out immunization to protect
her child from polio.

It is possible that implementers,

realizing this, gave higher marks to the posters that
highlighted polio and disability.

b/

The second two ;

The two pictures that were rated as being
next best (mean score 3.5) were the " mother and dead child HI)" and the ’’tetanus picture of an infant with

a bandaged

head - IV)”.

Once again, the explanation for these

pictures getting a
higher rating could lie in two factors - dread and
possibility.
The sight of a mother with a dead child would not be unknown

to the rural mother,

An infant with a bandaged head would
also fall within the realm of a mother's experience.
Thus,
she would identify with and dread these two possibilities,
The posters would possibly arouse in her the

necessary

combination of fear and desire to protect

w

Indian Market Research Bureau

125

c/

The last three :

The three posters that were rated

lowest on the rating scale were "Tetanus - child with
tube in nose - VII" (Mean score = 3.3), "TB-node on

neck - IV" (Mean score = 3,2), "Father and healthy

child - II" (Mean score = 3.2).
The fact that these received a lower rating than
the others bears out the explanation given earlier.
The pictures were either too unfamiliar to be real

(Pictures VII and IV) or too mild to be threatening
(Pictures IV and II).

The picture of an infant with a tube in the nose,

while dreadful, was removed from rural reality and
therefore would not arouse the fear that picltures

of a more possible/plausible situation could.

The picture of the node on the neck would most
probably not be understood by an illiterate audience
to be anything more threatening than a boil which
was too common-place to merit much thought.
The messages that were sought to be delivered by

the picture of a man carrying a healthy child namely,
the active role of the father and the rewards of

immunization were probably not received.

The picture

did not serve the function of creating interest in or

demand for immunization since it aroused no fear.

Indian Market Research Bureau

126

5.5

PROBLEMS IN PRACTICE
Respondents were asked to name the one problem which,
in their opinion, formed the main obstacle to their
work.

The question was asked

in an open-ended

format, allowing the respondent to spontaneously
mention

5;5.1

the problem that first surfaced in his mind.

No problems (Ref: Tables A-91, B-91, C-91)
A third of all respondents said that there were no
problems that obstructed their work, This figure

was lower in the districts (30.3%) but considerably
higher in the metros (50%). 2 out of 3 workers in

metros said that there was no problem.

This absence of problems was expressed to differing
degrees across districts, In Madurai0 district, 75%

of all respondents stated that there were no problems,
Given that the district belonged to the poor performance category, this claim rings false or speaks of

extreme inefficiency.

In Anantpur* district, 52.8?o of

all respondents, said that there were no problems.
The third district where over
over a third of the respondents

expressed "no problem", was Nadia0 in the East zone.
Barring these, less than 30?i of the respondents in
other districts said that there were no problems.

Indian Market Research Bureau

127

5.5.2

Obstacles to the work

(Ref: Tables A92. B-92, 0-92)

Implementers were asked to talk about the problems

that formed an obstacle to their work.

They were asked

to talk of the main problem and other problems.

All problems that were mentioned (the question was

open-ended) were weighted in terms of their being mentioned in the context of main or other problems.
The ten main problems that emerge as a result are as

follows :

Rank
1

Transporation problems

2

Resistance from people

3

Problems regarding vaccine supplies

4

Cold chain maintainence

5

Shortage of workers

6

Lack of faith/confidence in vaccination

7

Financial problems

8

Problems with

9

Difficulty in convincing people regarding

regard to sterilization

vaccination

10

Lack of sincerety in workers

11

Illiteracy in people

Other problem

areas that were mentioned were as

follows, in order of frequency of mention :

Indian Market Research Bureau

128

Problems regarding supply of other necessities
Problems of space

Workers not trained
Load shedding
Infrastructural problems
Payment unsatisfactory
Dishonesty (corruption, misappropriation)

Side effects of injections
Language problems

Mobile population therefore difficult to keep records
Unhygienic surroundings

Worker-public interaction

People go out of town and miss due dates
Non-availability of vaccine cards.

The purpose of listing all the problems in the order of
the frequency or order of their mention is to provide
an understanding of the range of problems that existed..

IMM
Indian Market Research Bureau

129

5.6

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

A list of six possible areas of improvement was

provided to the respondents.

They were asked to choose the one area which they
considered to be most important, if improvement in that

area could be guaranteed.

They were then asked to pick

the area of improvement that they considered was second
most important and then the third most important area.

The areas of improvement sought differed by doctors and
workers as well as between districts and metros.

On the basis of the total sample, the order in which
the six areas were ranked is as follows :

Rank

Improvement in the area of

Mean Score
(Max - 3)

1

Information to people about
immunization

1.52

2

Supply of vaccines

1.08

3

Cold chain maintainence

1.05

A

System of travel to villages

1.05

5

Greater number of immunization
centres per village/locality

0.95

6

Supply of consumables

0.39

Ref : Table A-93
All respondent groups were agreed on the two areas of
improvement that ranked first and last respectively.

Indian Market Research Bureau

150

The most important area where improvement was wanted

was with regard to providing information to villagers

or people about immunization.

Doctors and workers,

in districts and in metro ranked this area the most
important area where improvement was needed.

Clearly, providing information and education to the
people, namely communication, is the need of the hour.

The area which aroused the lowest sense of urgency

and was common to all groups was the supply of

consumables.

The most likely interpretation of this

is that there was no problem in this area and that

needles, syringes and other items required for immuni­
zation are available in quantities that are perceived

as being adequate by the implementers.

The ranking of other areas differed considerably amongst

the four groups both in terms of the order and the mean
scores.

2

Doctors

Mean
score

Cold Chain
maintainence

1.21

Mean
score

Workers

2

System of travel

1.13

3

Supply of
vaccines

1.10

3

Supply of vaccines 1.06

4

System of travel

0.91

4

Greater number of
centres : people 0.98

5

Greater no. of
centre: people

0.89

5

Cold chain
maintainence

0.96

Indian Market Research Bureau

131

Each group was clearly looking at the areas of improve­

ment based on the problems faced by them in the imple­
mentation of the immunization programme.

Doctors

mentioned cold chain maintainence as the second most

important area in which improvement was needed,

possibly because they were accountable for the perfor­
mance of their centre and understood the role of the

cold chain in effective immunization.

Workers on the

other hand laid stress on improvement in the system
of travel to the villages since immunization in

outreach areas would be likely to fall more often in

their lot.

Both doctors and workers independently placed supply
of vaccines as the third area in which improvement

would be desired.

In the fourth place, doctors felt that improvement in
the system of travel would be desirable while workers

opted for greater numbers of centres for a given

population.

Once again, it is apparent that the actual

burden of implementation fell on the workers who

probably felt that the load per centre was too high.
In the fifth place, doctors spoke of more centres for
a given population while workers mentioned improvement

in the cold chain system.

The latter is a cause for

concern since it indicates a non-appreciation of the
importance of the cold chain in the view of the workers.

Indian Martel Research Bureau

132

There were wide differences in the priorities between

districts and metros.

The areas of improvement are listed

separately as ranked by district and metro respondents.

District

Metro

1 . Provide information
to people about
1.56
immunization

1. Provide information to
people about immunization

1.31

2. Greater number of
centres : people

1.25

3. Supply of vaccines

1.14

4. Cold chain
maintainence

0.89

5. System of travel

0.69

6. Supply of consumables

0.54

2. System of travel

1.12

3. Cold chain
maintainence

1 .08

4. Supply of vaccines

1.07

5. Greater number of
centres : people

0.89

6. Supply of consu­
mables

0.37

The problem areas in districts and metros become apparent
on the basis or
of me
the above rankings.

One striking aspect

is that in metros the second most important area of
improvement was considered to be a greater number of centres

for a given population.

The high density of metro population

possibly placed a greater load

per metro doctor or worker

than in the districts.

Indian Market Research Bureau

133

6

MEDIA

In every aspect of this KAP study, one objective
had been to inguireinto the means of reaching out
to village people.

In the case of implementors, we

asked them to talk about the main sources of infor­
mation for various sorts of happenings, at national,
district and village levels. V/e also elicited
information about the formal media which, in the

opinion of the villagers, would be suitable for
communicating with villagers.
6;1

MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR VILLAGERS

6.1.1

Information regarding national happenings
In the opinion of the implementors, the main sources
of information with regard to national happenings
were :

Media

?6 of implementors
who mentioned

Radio

86.7

Newspaper
TV

65.2
51.5

Ref : Table A-104
These three were clearly the main sources for
information about national level happenings, Other
sources mentioned by significantly smaller numbers of
respondents were :

Indian Market Research Bureau

134

Local heads

3.8%

Cinema/cultural programme

2.7?o

Working people coming to
village

2.7

Posters or magazines

1.9

There were some differences by district in the relative
importance of the first three media.

In Bharatpur0,

Allahabad+, Madurai0, Puri+ and Gwalior* TV seemed to
be an important source of information for villagers.

In the Northern districts of Hamirpui*, Bharatpur0and
Allahabad4; in Nadia and Puri+in the East and in Nanded*
district in the West, over 9O?6 of implementers mentioned
the radio as an important source of information about
national events.

The newspaper was mentioned by over 75% of all respon­

dents in the three South zone districts and in Puri+
district of the East.

All three mass media are being reported on at length

in the next section.
6.1.2

Information regarding district level happenings

For this kind of information, the newspaper emerged as

being the most important medium, followed by the radio

and word of mouth.

BfW
Indian Market Research Bureau

135

Media

% of implementers

Newspaper

51.5

Radio

37.5

Travellers (traders, farmers etc)

15.2

Public meetings, word-of-mouth
TV

14.8

Social/village/health workers
Froii service people
(those going out of the village
for work)

12.1

9.8
6.1

Ref : Table A-105
There were district-wise differences. The newspaper as
a source was more frequently mentioned in Anantpur*; Puri+

Gwalior*, Madurai0 and Bharatpur0.
Public meetings and word of mouth communication was

mentioned in the East zone districts by one-third of the
implementers.
6.1.3

Information about happenings in neighbouring villages

The two main ways in which villagers got the opportunity
to hear of happenings in neighbouring villages were

through personal contact particularly with travellers,
or visitors from neighbouring villages and through
announcements.

Indian Market Research Bureau

136
o-

<0

62.5

Personal contact :

.

Person-to-person contact

30.3

T ravellers

21 .6

Visitors from neighbouring
villages

10.6

Announcements (particularly with
regard to fairs, markets etc.)

15.2

Local village worker or elder

9.8

Village pradhan

7.2

Posters

6.4

Newspaper

5.3

Propaganda by cinema

4.5

Events fixed by custom are known

3.1

Pamphlets are given

2.3

Relatives

3.8

Health worker, teacher, anqanwadi worker

dai, postman, chowkidar, purohit (temple
priest)

5.0

Ref : Table A-106

The last category clubs together all the persons who

become sources of information.

Health workers and teachers

play a marginally more important role than the others.

However, village leaders and village elders remain an
important source for news that are not likely to be covered

through mass media.
It is interesting to note that announcements, posters and

pamphlets together play an important role in generating

Indian Market Research Bureau

137

awareness. However, it must be remembered that infor­
mation regarding fairs or market days etc. is information
that intrinsically has the potential to capture the
interest of villagers since it promises fun and
excitement. The message regarding immunization availa
bility would not have that pull. Thus, while this data
reveals that pamphlets and announcements do work, the

nature of the announcement must be borne in mind while
deciding on the media to be used.
6.1.4

Information regarding health teams visit
Implementers reported that the main source of information
regarding the health team's visit were as follows :

Health workers, A.N.M, Other workers

56.0%

Propoganda/Publicity/Megaphone
announcements

12.1%

Village chief/Pradhan

9.8%

Health worker visits houses

7.2%

Notice issued/Posters/Pamphlets
Fixed schedule for immunization
Panchayat

7 .'2%

4.9%
2.7%

Chowkidar
Teacher

2.3%

Village elders

2.3%

2.7?o

0D
D

Indian Market Research Bureau

138

reaching the villages are few and even those are not

seen by all villagers.

Posters we hypothesize, would

be noticed by larger numbers because of their intrinsic
non routine nature as well as the association of posters

with news that directly concern the village.

However,

implementers felt that newspapers had marginally higher
credibility than posters.
TV followed after newspapers indicating that the reach
of TV is still not widespread.
Leaflets were believed to be more likely to reach
villagers than hoardings, possibly because the news

carried in leaflets would be perceived as being more
pertinent to the village than general-purpose hoardings.

We recommend from this data that the kind of media
vehicles that are most likely to reach the rural audience
would be those that

a/

depend on the audio-visual medium rather than
the printed word

b/

are perceived as having some news or information

that is pertinent to the people of that village.
In the latter case, the printed medium works since
word of the news carried in the poster/leaflet
would be spread by those are literate to the rest.

W

Indian Market Research Bureau

139

6*2

MASS MEDIA

Data was collected on the basis of media that reached in villages
and media that people were most likely to believe in.

The

objective of the latter question was to see if there were
perceived to be any differences in the credibility of

different media.

The eight media vehicles that were thus evaluated and
the ratings received were as follows :

Media

Reaches people

Believed in

O'

O'

Radio

66; 3

73.1

Cinema

42.4

55.7

Posters

38.6

48.9

Newspaper

37.9

53.8

TV

30.7

45.5

Leaflets

20.1

17.8

Hoarding

16.7

20.8

Magazine

8.3

13.6

/0

/O

Radio and cinema emerged as being the two media vehicles

that reach the village people and are believed in as well.
Both are based on audio communication (listening) rather
than on reading and therefore would logically have

appeal for illiterate people.
The two vehicles that were rated as next most likely to
reach villagers were posters and newspapers.

The order

of ranking suggests that the number of newspapers

Indian Market Research Bureau

140

reaching the villages are few and even those are
not seen by all villagers.

Posters we hypothesize,

would be noticed by larger numbers because of their
intrinsic non-routine nature as well as the association

of posters with news that directly concern the village.
However, implementers felt that newspapers had
marginally higher credibility than posters.
TV followed after newspapers indicating that the

reach of TV is still not widespread.
Leaflets were believed to be more likely to reach

villagers than hoardings, possibly because the news
carried in leaflets would be perceived as being

more pertinent to the village than general-purpose
hoardings.
We conclude from this data that the kind of media
vehicles that are most likely to reach the rural
audience would be those that :
a/

depend on the audio-visual medium rather
than the printed word

b/

are perceived as having some news or information that is pertinent to the people of

that village.

In the latter case, the printed

medium works since word of the news carried in
the poster/leaflet would be spread by those are

literate to the rest.

b)

Indian Market Research Bureau

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6.3

MESSAGES THAT WOULD CONVINCE

Finally, respondents were asked to give their sugges­
tions with regard to messages that could most effectively
convince rural people on the need for immunization.
The largest number of.suggestions were in the area of
educating people with regard to health and the advan­

tages of immunization.

Some of the suggestions in this

context were as follows :
%

Explain advantages of vaccination

23.1

Give health education to parents

19.7

Name and explain the diseases that
can be prevented

15.9

.

Explain consequences of not vaccinating

14.0

.

Explain that it protects children from
severe/fatal diseases

9.8

Explain that vaccine is the easiest
way to protect your child

6.1

.

This group accounted for 88.6% of the suggestions. Two
issues that emerge from these suggestions are :

1/

Implementers seem to strongly feel that there is a
gap in communication with regard to the fact that the
immunization course helps protect the child from some

serious diseases.

People do not know the diseases

which can be prevented, understand the severity of

diseaaes or really understand prevention.

Indian Market Research Bureau

142

2/

Implementers seem to feel that a combination of fear

appeal and reward appeal needs to be used to make an
impact.

The other suggestions were with regard to promises that

could be made and fears or misconceptions that could be
These were :

removed.

Makes children healthy and happy

6.1%

Explain that government gives
vaccination free

3.0%

Reduce fear of side effects

1.9%

A few respondents (5 to be precise) spontaneously said

that the current TV message was very good.

Respondents also had suggestions with regard to the

best media to be used.

These were :

Cinema

15.9%

Personal contact

12.5%

Leaflets/posters/pamphlets

9.5%

Radio

5.3%

TV

4.9?6

Mike/Megaphone

3.4%

Press

0.4%

An interpretation mentioned earlier has been revalidated.

That is that the medium used to communicate

the immunization message would need to be an active

medium rather than a passive one.

It would need to

reach out and grab attention and not expect to draw
attention.

Indian Market Research Bureau

APPENDIX I

VII

POSTERS

Indian Market Research Bureau

APPENDIX I

MOTHER AND DEAD CHILD

Indian Market Research Bureau

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APPENDIX VI
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APPENDIX VIII
QUESTIONNAIRE

w02

Indian Market Research Bureau

IMRB/JN 40396/APRIL 1987

J

'I
1-10

IMMUKAP—IMPLEMENTER INTERVIEW

r

Name of Respondent
Name of village

Category

District Code

OR

Name of town
Address

District Code

Date

Name of interviewer

Sr. No. of interview
Backchecked :

1

'Unit’ Category

:

Name of Supervisor
Accompanied :

2

Metro

1

District Headquarter

PHC

3

PHS

:

Neither :
:

3

2

4

Without health centre

:

5

11

CLASSIFICATION DATA
1.

I

Health Centre Information Sheet No.

01

12-15

What would you say is your job with regard to immunization ?

What else ?
(IF MORE THAN ONE, NOTE ORDER OF MENTION UNDER RANK)
ANSWER PERTAINS TO :

Rank
Immunizing/vaccinating children
Health education

1

z

2

Keeping track/records

3

Maintaining cold chain and vaccines

4

Sterilizing and preparation

5

Others (specify

6
16-21

2.

Can you tell me the recommended immunization schedule ?

2a

What are’the vaccines given ?

(CODE UNDER COL. 2a) DO NOT PROMPT

ASK FOR EACH VACCINE CODED UNDER COL 2a

2c

What is the name used for this vaccine by the local people ?

2d

How many doses are to be given (CODE UNDER 2d)

2e

To whom is this vaccine to be given (CODE UNDER 2e)

2f

What is the earliest age at which it can be given ? (CODE UNDER 2f)

2g

(IF MORE THAN ONE DOSE) What should the interval

between two doses ?

(CODE UNDER 2g)
PROMPT ON VACCINE NOT CODED UNDER COL 2a;

2b

Does
IF YES CODE

vaccine also form part of the schedule :
UNDER 2b.

ASK

ALL

QUESTIONS

GIVEN

ABOVE

Q. 2c-g. PROMPT ON NEXT UNCODED VACCINE AND REPEAT
TILL YOU HAVE PROMPTED ON ALL UNCODED VACCINES.

UNDER

CONTINUE

2
2a/b

2e

2d

2f

2g

TT
BCG

22—76
DPT

OPV

Measles
Other

CODE BELOW FOR Q. 2

Vaccine
Name

2a

2b

2c

Spontaneous

Aided

Local Name

2d

2f

2e

2g

No.
To whom Earliest
of doses"'~S= ? ;
age
Interval
5. | c ( Mnths) (mths)
(j£r- <r-

Q.3a

TT

1

2

1

x

x

BCG

1

2

X

2

3

DPT

1

2

x

2

3

OPV

1

2

X

2

3

Measles

1

2

x

2

3

Others

1

x

X

2

3

x
X

x

Here are a list of consumable items that you need for a vaccination session. Is the supply of
these regularly available ? READ OUT EACH ITEM

Regular
supply

ITEMS

3b

X

Irregular

Never
received

BCG vaccine

1

2

3

TT vaccine

1

2

3

DPT vaccine

1

2

3

OPV vaccine

1

2

3

Measles vaccine

1

2

3

Vaccine cards

1

2

3

77-82

How many needles and syringes do you have that are usable ?
Needles (all sizes together)

:

Syringes
83—88

3c

What are the diseases that are prevented by these vaccines ?
(NAME VACCINE AND CODE) (IF LOCAL NAME DIFFERENT—REF. Q. 2 ABOVE—USE LOCAL

NAME)
Dip- Whooping Measles
Tetanus Polio theria cough
TB Others

TT

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

BCG

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

OPV

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

DPT

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Measles

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I

89—123

(MULTIPLE CODES FOR ONE VACCINE OR ONE DISEASE ARE ACCEPTABLE)

3
4.

For each of the d:.< ases, please answer the following (NAME ONE DISEASE AT A TIME AND

4a.

ASK) :
What are the major symptoms of this disease ? CODE UNDER COL. 4a.

4b.

On a scale of very serious, serious and not serious, where would you rate this disease ? CODE

III i~T?l

I

UNDER COL. 4b
•?

1 — 10

4b

4a.

>

Disease
Polio

Symptoms
Fever and pain in head
Pain IP limb
Paralysis o£afTected limb :

1
2

Very
Serious

Serious

Not
Serious

1

2

3

3

Others (SPECIFY)

Diptheria

Child cannot eat properly :

Swelling in throat
:
White membrane inthroat :
Any other(SPECIFY)

Child keeps coughing
:
Whoop during cough
:
Vomitting after coughing :
Any other (SPECIFY)

1
2
3

1

LL

17—22

3

2

23—28

1

3

2

4
5

Don’t know

Child looks tired
Child loses weight
Persistent cough & fever
Others (SPECIFY) |

1
2

29—34

1

3

2

3

I

4
5

Don't know

Measles

m

1
2
3

Body becomes rigid
Convulsions

Lock jaw
Any other (SPECIFY)

TB

3

2

1

1
2
3

4
5

Don't know

Tetanus

11—16

4
5

Don’t know
Pertussis

LI

4
5

Don’t know

1
2

Fever
Rash
Watery eyes
Cough
Eyes sensitive to light
Any other (SPECIFY)

1

3

2

3
4

N

5

41—46

Don't know

5.

I I
35—40

What are the local names for each of the following as understood by people here ?

READ OUT EACH ITEM.
Local

Tetanus

Polio
Diptheria

Whooping cough
Measles

TB
Umbilical cord

name

6a.

We have spoken about the ideal immunization schedule,
was late for his third DPT/Polio and eligible for
would you give him all 3 together ?

Yes

:

1

No

:

2

DK/CS

:

3

4
However, take a case where a child

the measles vaccine,

In such a case,

47

IF ’2’ CODED, ASK :
Why not ?

48-53

6b.

Do you personally believe that measles should be prevented by vaccination ?
Yes

:

1

No

2

DK/CS

3

IF ‘2’ CODED, ASK :

54

Why do you say so ?

55-60

6c.

If a mother/father said that her child had already had measles, would you still

give the measles vaccine or would you refuse ?


Give

1

Refuse

2

DK/CS

3

IF ‘2’ CODED, ASK :

61

Why would you refuse ?

62-67

7.

Are there any situations or circumstances (medical term : contraindications) when you should
refuse vaccination to a child ?

What
situation ?
------------------

For what vaccination ?

DRT

ORV

TT

BCG

Measles

Cough/cold

1

2

3

4

5

Diarrhoea/Vomitting

1

2

3

4

5

Fever below 100°F

1

2

3

4

5

Fever above 100°F

1

2

3

4

5

Malnutrition

1

2

3

4

5

Skin disease/boils

1

2

3

4

5

Others

1

2

3

4

5

No situations or circumstances

1

2

3

4

5

Don't know/Can’t say

1

2

3

4

5
68-112

5
8.

9.

At what temperature must vaccines be kept at the health centre/in your clinic ?
(DO NOT PROMPT)
-F4* to +8°C

1

Other (SPECIFY)

2

Don’t know

3

113

ASK PRIVATE PRACTITIONER/PRIVATE HOSPITALS :
Do you ever take vaccines to any place outside this clinic/hospital ?
Yes

1

2

No

3

DK

114

IF ‘1’ CODED CONTINUE, IF '2’ CODED MOVE TO Q.10e
ASK ALL EXCEPT THOSE WHERE '2' CODED IN Q.9
10a

10b

Can you describe how you would carry vaccines for an immunization session ?
(DO NOT PROMPT) (PROBE TO UNDERSTAND FULLY)
Carry in vaccine carrier
: 1
Keep vials in plastic bag in carrier

2

Carry in vaccine carrier with ice

3

Carry in vaccine carrier with frozen ice packs

4

Ice packs filled with cold water

5

No special care required

6

Don't know

X

Others (SPECIFY)

Y

115-120

How should vials be kept during an immunization session ?
In a cup of ice

:

1

Don’t know

3

On top of an ice pack :

2

Others (SPECIFY BELOW)

4

121-126

I I
10c

3

1-10

Where do you sterilize all needles and syringes for an outreach session ?
At health centre

1

At outreach camp

2

3

Others (SPECIFY)

u_
11-12

10d

lOe

11.

When do you sterilize them (SINGLE CODE)
Before the session

:

1

After the session to keep ready for next session

:

2'

During the session

3

Others (SPECIFY)

4

Which method of sterilization do you use (SINGLE CODE)
Boil for 1—10 minutes

1

Boil for 11—20 minutes

2

Boil for 21—30 minutes

3

Autoclave

4

Keep in antiseptic solution

5

Keep in hot water

6

Others (SPECIFY)

7

If you had a 10-doze DPT vial, what is the minimum number of children that you

would need before you opened the vial ?
Minimum number of children :

13-14

6
12a

What would you do if you had less than | vial of vaccine left over after a
session ? And what would you do if you had more than | vial of vaccine ?

Less than |

More than J

Throw it away

1

1

Put it back in refrigerator

2

2

Mark it and put it back in refrigerator

3

3

Depends on the vaccine

4

4

Others

5

5

Don't know

6

6
19-24

IF '4' CODED. ASK :

b

Which vaccine would you put back and which would you throw away ?

Put back

Throw away

DPT

1

2

OPV

1

2

Measles

1

2

TT

1

2

BCG

1

2

25-29

13a

Were you given special training for immunization ?

Yes

No

1

2

30

IF YES :
Today how satisfactory do you feel this training was compared to what you
need ? (SHOW CARD 'A')

Very satisfactory

1

Satisfactory

2

Not satisfactory

3

Very unsatisfactory

4

Don't know

5

31

IF ‘3’ OR ‘4’ CODED ASK :
Could you specify the areas in which the training was unsatisfactory ?

I

32-39

13b

SHOW MANUAL (OPEN AND SHOW SOME ILLUSTRATED PAGES)

Yes

No

Have you ever seen this manual ?

1

2

Have you seen these illustrations ?

1

2

Do you currently have it with you ?

1*

2

Is the manual useful ?

1

2
40-43

* SPECIFY LANGUAGE

7
SHOW CARD 'A*
How would you rate the Immunization performance of your centre ?

14.

! 1
: 2
: 3
: 4
: 5
: 6

Excellent
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
DK/CS

44

What do you say so ?

45-52

15a.

Normally, who brings the child for immunization ?
Mainly

Sometimes

Mother of child

1

1

Father of child

2

2

Grandparent

3

3

Others

4

4

I
53-60

15b.

How does a parent keep track of due dates of vaccinations ?

Cards are given

: 1

Vaccinations given at the house on due date: 4

Parents are reminded

: 2

Others

: 5

Parents are called on due date : 3

ASK FOR ALL EXCEPT THOSE WHO CODED '4’ IN Q. 15b.
16a.

the due date ?
Do mothers usually bring the children on
i

All mothers bring child on due date

1

Most mothers bring child on due date
Some mothers bring child on due date

2

Most mothers do not bring child on due date
None of the mothers bring child on due date

4
5
6

3

Don't know/Can't say

IF ‘3’, *4’ OR

16b.

63

5' CODED :

What you think are the reasons for this ?

64-73

17.

In your opinion, who in the family mainly decides on :
(SINGLE CODE FOR EACH ITEM)

Family elder
Male Female

Mother of
child

Father of
child

Immunization of child

1

2

3

4

TT for pregnant weman

1

2

3

4

Taking child to a doctor in the village

1

2

3

4

Taking child to a town doctor

1

2

3

4

Taking child to local faith healer

1

2

3

4

ITEM

74-7S

18.

8

regard to the people in your region would

In favour of

Against

Indifferent

DK

Father of child

1

2

3

4

Mother of child

1

2

3

4

Grandfather of child (Paternal)

1

2

3

4

Grandmother of child (Paternal)

1

2

3

4

Village chief

1

2

3

4

Village elders

1

2

3

4

School teacher

1

2

3

4

Faith healer

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

Dai

79-87
19.

For each of the following, would j— -you say the statement is applicable for most
people in your territory, some people or none of the people"?

Most

Some

None

DK

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

People are aware of immunization
People are cooperative and willing
People are indifferent but do not resist

People resist immunization and have to be
coaxed

__

88-91
20a

Do any mothers/parents <ever refuse vaccine even when efforts
are made to
convince/persuade them ?

Most refuse

:

1

Some refuse

:

2

None

:

3

92

IF ‘1’ OR ‘2’ CODED IN 20a, ASK :

20b

Who are the people who refuse ?

20c

Why do you think they refuse ?

What features do they have in common ?

93-100

101-108
20d

In your opinion, what could be done by
persuade them ?

government or others to convince or

109-116

9
If you were asked to name one problem that forms the bipgest obstacle to your
work, which would you name ? (NOTE UNDER MAIN PROBLEM)

21.

What are the other problems that obstruct your work ?

□□

Main problem :

117-118

Other problems

119-126

I
SHOW CARD B :

22.

I

I
I

I
I

4

1-10

If Improvement could be guaranteed in any of the followingj areas, which would
the most
you pick as being I...
----- important ? And which would be second most

important ?

And third ?

Rank

Information to villages about immunization
Supply of vaccines

Supply of ^TComsumables (needles, syringes)

Storage of vaccines—cold chain maintenance

System of travel to villages—roads, transport
Greater number of immunization centres per village

11-16

23a

What % of the eligible infants in your territory have to be vaccinated in 1987.

%
23b

Will these levels of immunization have to be maintained for the future or is it
only for 1987 ?
Only for 1987

1

To be maintained for the future :

2

19

IF •2’, FOR HOW LONG :

I I
20-21

SHOW POSTER ALBUM
24a

A set of posters/tin plates had been made on the subject of immunization
Were these provided to you ?
Yes :

No :

1

2
22

IF YES, ASK Which ones ?

CODE UNDER COL. 24a

Mow many were there in all (approx) Total Number
I

24b

CHECK IF -DISPLAYED AND CODE UNDER COL. 24b.

DONE IN DISPENSARY OR CENTRE, CODE '3' UNDER 24b.

IF INTERVIEW NOT

I
23-25

24c

10

With reference to the ones you have, how would you rate them in terms of

their effect in making people willing to give Immunization (SHOW CARD).

24a

Please pick the phrase that most appropriately describes your rating of the

posters/fin plates,

Poster

24a

24b

PROVIDED

Displayed

Tin plate

Tin

name

24c
26-39

Yes

Exce-

Very

DK

llent

good

Good

Fair

Poor

Poster

plate

1

1 >

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

Father & child 2

2

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

Polio boy

3

3

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

4

4

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

TB-mode on
neck

5

5

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

TT-bandaged

6

6

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

7

7

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

Mother &
dead child

INSIDE OUT­
SIDE

standing

Polio boy
cram

24b

40-53

24c

Lead

TT-tube in
nose

54-60
25

I have here a set of statements, As I read out each one, please tell me whether
you agree or disagree with the statement :

1.

Convincing people to get their child immunized is
frustrating work

2.

TT and DPT vaccines should not be allowed to freeze

3.

People here do not really believe that vaccinations
can prevent disease

Agree

Disagree

1

2

1

61

2
62

1

2
63

4.

This job involves important and useful work

5.

The cold chain system beyond the HQ hospital is very
weak and breaks down easily

1

2
64

1

r
65

6.

People suspect that vaccinations are not given for the
prevention of diseases but some other motives

1

J
66

11
7.

People have fears with regard to vaccination side effects.

Agree

Disagree

1

2
67

8.

1

Working with illiterate people can be boring and tiring

2
68

9.

I would prefer to work in a town rather than a village

2

1

69

10.

Keeping vaccines at room temperature for 2—3 hours is okay

2

1

70

11.

Once one child has been vaccinated, people will come
forward on their own to get their next child vaccinated

2

1

71

12.

Most vaccines loose potency because it is impossible
to maintain them at the correct temperature

1

2
72

FOR DISTRICT LEVEL INTERVIEWS ONLY
26.

What would you say is the main source of information for villagers in this district,

with regard to :

A

a.

National happenings :

73—78

b.

District level happenings :

79-84

c.

Neighbouring village incidents, fairs, melas, etc.

id
85—90

d

Health Team’s visit :
91—96

27

23.

In your opinion, what message would be best to convince people about
immunization. What should they be told to most effectively convince them ?

SHOW CARD ‘C*
For people in the villages, which of these media should be used :

a.

Which do people believe most in ?

b.

Which one would be most likely to reach them ?

b

a
Believe

a
Believe in

Reach them

Radio

1

1

Hoardings 6

TV
Newspaper

2

2

Leaflets

Magazine

3
4

3
4

Cinema
Others...

Posters

5

5

(Specify)

b
Reach them

in

7
8
9

6
7
8
9
105-122

Media
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