MOTHERS` MANAGEMENT PATTERN AND PROLONGED CHILDHOOD ILLNESS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Various studies in Africa have shown that about 3 million children in developing countries die and many more are crippled, blinded, or otherwise disabled from six major diseases that are preventable through immunization (WHO; UNICEF, 2010). These six diseases are: measles, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, and diphtheria. Meanwhile, for all these six diseases, vaccines and the means to provide them are readily available, relatively inexpensive, and of proven effectiveness in saving lives. In Nigeria, despite the creation of the National Programme on Immunisation (NPI), the situation over the years has not improved. Currently, Nigeria is among the ten countries in the world with vaccine coverage rates below 50 per cent (WHO, 2010), having been persistently below 40 per cent since 1997 (WHO, 2003). Currently, immunization coverage is approximately 23% which is almost double that of 2003 rate of 13%. The observed level of full childhood immunization rates across the years therefore suggest that these indicators may not have been responding to prior policy and technical interventions. This study therefore aimed to examine the influence of mothers` health seeking behaviour as well as some selected socio-economic factors on childhood immunization, using the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS).