Protecting the Nigerian child against the common communicable diseases.

A pilot survey was done on a sample of 141 women in Lagos to find out the influence of their social, economic and educational background on the level of immunization of their children against the common childhood infections. The level of immunization was generally low, the lowest being for poliomyelitis (28%). The following factors are important for improvement in the level of immunization of the children: a reduction in the number of attendances required to a minimum, easy availability, accessibility and acceptability of health services, raising the educational level of the people and their socio-economic status, and ensuring maximum utilization of health services by health education of the people.