BOOK OF PROCEEDINGS FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES 1 st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON: FEDERAL UNIVERSITY WUKARI, TARABA STATE-NIGERIA IDENTITY, SOCIAL INCLUSION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA 78 8 SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AND ACCESSIBILITY OF PRIMARY HEALTHCARE SERVICES ON CHILD HEALTH MANAGEMENT AMONG RURAL DWELLERS IN CENTRAL SENATORIAL ZONE OF TARABA, NIGERIA John Wajim 1 Andeskebtso Yohanna Adaki 2 Shimfe Grace Harry 3 Yaweh Filibus 4 Samuel Ruth Agbu 5 1&3 Department of Sociology Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria Email: wajimjohn@gmail.com, graceshimfe@gmail.com 2 Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Taraba State University, Jalingo, Nigeria Email: lordadaki@gmail.com 4&5 Department of History and Diplomatic Studies Faculty of Humanities, Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria Email: yaweh@fuwukari.edu.ng, samuelr@fuwukari.edu.ng Abstract In Nigeria, despite advancements in healthcare, rural communities contend with significant obstacles in accessing essential primary healthcare services. Rural dwellers mostly encounter restricted access to primary healthcare services, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment. This limited accessibility contributes to preventable child health issues, resulting in elevated mortality rates for children under five years old. This study investigated socio-economic factors and accessibility of primary healthcare services on child health management among rural dwellers in Central Senatorial Zone of Taraba State, Nigeria. Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Theory was employed for the study. The study adopted cross sectional survey design, and Taro Yamane was employed to generate the sample size of 1,111 from the population of 1,135,100. The study employed both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (Key Informant Interview) methods of data collection. Findings of the study revealed that socio-economic factors have significant influence on the accessibility of primary healthcare services on child health management in Central Senatorial Zone of Taraba State with the P-value of 0.000. This indicated that rural dwellers with higher levels of education, income, better jobs and those close to primary healthcare facilities easily access primary healthcare services compared to the majority with lower levels of education, income, occupation, and those far from primary healthcare facilities. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that, government should increase the provision of primary healthcare facilities that can be accessible to all rural dwellers in order to protect children from preventable diseases and curtail the rates of child mortality in rural areas. Keywords: Accessibility, Child health, primary healthcare, rural dwellers, socio-economic Introduction Globally, despite advancements in healthcare, rural communities contend with significant obstacles in accessing essential primary healthcare services. The World Health