International Journal of Recent Innovations in Medicine and Clinical Research Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Abstracted and Indexed Journal ISSN: 2582-1075 https://ijrimcr.com/ Volume-2, Issue-4, 2020: 30-37 30 An Evaluation of Knowledge and Attitude towards Routine Immunization among Caregivers/Mothers of Under-Five Years Children in Gwagwalada Area Council Abuja-FCT Yalma Ramsey Msheliza 1 , Ejemeka Chibuzo 1 , Olayinka Victor Ojo 2 1 Department of Community Medicine, University of Abuja, Federal Capital Teritory, Nigeria 2 Department of Physiotherapy, Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria Corresponding Author Email: yrmsheliza@yahoo.com Received: September 14, 2020 Accepted: October 8, 2020 Published: October 14, 2020 Abstract: Background: Immunization is one of the most important Public Health Interventions, its full potential is yet to be reached. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined immunization as the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. The role of these vaccines is to help in stimulating the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease. Immunization could be routine or supplemental. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was employed and a facility-based cluster sampling technique was conducted, using a 25-item questionnaire that was modified and adopted by the researcher. Caregivers with at least one under-five child were targeted. Data collected over a 4 week period was analyzed using SPSS version 21. A total of 170 respondents gave informed consent and participated in the study. Results: Approximately 54.1% have good knowledge of routine immunization. Also 96% was revealed to have good attitude towards routine immunization. Immunization Age and level of education of caregiver was found to be significantly associated with knowledge (P-value<0.05). None of the socio-demographic characteristics have a significant association with attitude (p- value>0.05). However there is a significant association between attitude and knowledge (P-value< 0.05). Conclusion: It is therefore suggested that continuous health education advocacies by health workers on benefits of routine immunization to aid community mobilization and participation are measures to improve knowledge, attitude of mothers towards routine immunization. Keywords: Caregivers, childhood, immunization, vaccine, disease. Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined immunization as the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. The role of these vaccines is to help in stimulating the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease [1]. Immunization could therefore be seen to depict the ability to develop immunity. Immunization is believed to be the most successful and cost- effective public health intervention of the 20 th century in terms of number of deaths prevented per year [2]. Routine immunization refers to the nationally scheduled regular administration of vaccine dosages to infants at specified ages. Children are usually taken to the health facility by their caregivers to receive age-appropriate doses of vaccines. In most developing countries, this is only done on specific days of the week to reduce wastage of the vaccines [3]. The main aim of routine immunization is to deliver a complete number of doses of potent vaccines in a timely, safe and effective way to all children and women [4], ultimately inducing immunity against targeted diseases [5].