Public attitude towards acceptability, availability, and accessibility of immunization services in Riyadh

A study of accessibility, availability, and acceptability of immunization was carried out by interviewing 1422 parents selected randomly from the catchment areas of 15 health care centers in Riyadh. The parents were included if they had children who were under two years or who had not completed the essential immunization necessary for issuing birth certificates. The demographic data of parents and children were also obtained. The majority, 1270 (89.3%) parents said they would immunize their children to protect them against diseases while only 25 (1.8%) of the parents said they immunize their children to obtain the birth certificate. Of all parents, 87.3% strictly followed the immunization schedule. Mothers in the younger age group, with higher education and whose husbands are in the higher occupational category had higher compliance rates than others. Various reasons were given for this failure. Parents (21.4%) attributed failure to attend the scheduled immunizations to inaccessibility to the service, for example the distance which needed transport, or non-availability of father to accompany the family to the health center. Other reasons for failure were due to false perception of the necessity, the indications and the contradictions of immunization. It was found that parents who failed to comply with the immunization schedule were more likely to have more than the average number of children.