Public Perception of the Influence of Polio Awareness Campaign on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices: A Study of Residents of Ohaji/Egbema

This study examined the public perception of the influence of polio awareness campaign on the knowledge, attitude and practices of residents of Ohaji/Egbema. The study was anchored on the Health Belief Model (a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviours. This is done by focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals). The study adopted the mixed method research design using survey and in-depth interview methods. The population of the study was 253,910 residents in Ohaji/Egbema. The Australian online sample size calculator was used to arrive at a sample size of 385 respondents for the survey aspect of the study, while 6 respondents were interviewed for the qualitative aspect of the work. The cluster and judgmental sampling techniques were adopted for the study. Questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. Findings indicated that though, respondents’ own radio and television sets both at home and at place of work which they regularly listen to, they rarely or never receive information on poliomyelitis. However, findings showed that respondents are well aware of polio and are well knowledgeable about polio. To this end, findings indicated that their knowledge of polio has had a positive effect on their attitude and practices with regards to poliomyelitis. Based on these findings, the study concluded that in some cases, to get the populace to react in a certain way is not necessarily a function of awareness campaigns. There seems to be a sense of duty in every human that swings into action at the break of epidemic like poliomyelitis. Given that respondents’ knowledge of poliomyelitis is significantly related to their attitudes and practices towards eradication of the virus, the study recommended that a trend as such as the one in polio eradication has seen people come together for a common good should be adopted in combating future epidemic.