Acute Childhood Illnesses and Health Seeking Behaviour among under five children in a village of Hooghly district, West Bengal

Abstract

episodes of Acute Respiratory Illness and 1.7 of diarrhea annually. Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses incorporates the integrated approach to manage these illnesses and is concentrating on health care practices of the community to reduce child mortality. Early recognition and prompt treatment of these diseases are life saving. However, within a given social setting and a given availability of health services, an individual';s health seeking behaviour may be determined by factors such as distance, availability, affordability and the appropriateness and adequacy of services as perceived by the users. So, this study was conducted to assess the pattern of acute childhood illnesses among under five children and to find out the health seeking behaviour of the mothers in respect to the child's illness. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a community based cross-sectional study carried out in the Mollasimla village of Hooghly district of West Bengal, the rural field practice area of All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata. The village Mollasimla had a population of 3176. This was