COVID-19 demonstrated a global catastrophe that touched everybody, including the scientific community. As we respond and recover rapidly from this pandemic, there is an opportunity to guarantee that the fabric of our society includes sustainability, fairness, and care. However, approaches to environmental health attempt to decrease the populations burden of COVID-19, toward saving patients from becoming ill along with preserving the allocation of clinical resources and public safety standards. This paper explores environmental and public health evidence-based practices toward responding to Covid-19. A literature review tried to do a deep dive through the use of various search engines such as Mendeley, Research Gate, CAB Abstract, Google Scholar, Summon, PubMed, Scopus, Hinari, Dimension, OARE Abstract, SSRN, Academia search strategy toward retrieving research publications, "grey literature" as well as reports from expert working groups. To achieve enhanced population health, it is recommended to adopt widespread evidence-based strategies, particularly in this uncertain time. As only together can evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) can become a reality which include effective policies and practices, transparency and accountability of decisions, and equity outcomes; these are all more relevant in resource-constrained contexts, such as Nigeria. Effective and ethical EIDM though requires the production as well as use of high-quality evidence that are timely, appropriate and structured. One way to do so is through co-production. Co-production (or co-creation or co-design) of environmental/public health evidence considered as a key tool for addressing complex global crises such as the high risk of severe COVID-19 in different nations. A significant evidence-based component of environmental/public health (EBEPH) consist of decisions making based on best accessible, evidence that is peer-reviewed; using data as well as systematic information systems; community engagement in policy making; conducting sound evaluation; do a thorough program-planning frameworks; as well as disseminating what is being learned. As researchers, scientists, statisticians, journal editors, practitioners, as well as decision makers strive to improve population health, having a natural tendency toward scrutinizing the scientific literature aimed at novel research findings serving as the foundation for intervention as well as prevention programs. The main inspiration behind conducting research ought to be toward stimulating and collaborating appropriately on public/environmental health action. Hence, there is need for a "Plan B" of effective behavioural, environmental, social as well as systems interventions (BESSI) toward reducing transmission.
Scientific research is the basis for sound planning and management of all resources and, as such, is the key to the future health and prosperity of all humanity. Uncertainty drives scientific curiosity and thirst for knowledge and solutions, but it can also lead to insecurity, anxiety, and fear. However, few will dispute that life on earth is becoming increasingly threatened by public/environmental health problems, issues that can be commonly linked to unregulated human activities and irresponsible policymaking. But, how has these public/environmental health problems affected our future and how can they be resolved? Such questions are clearly very difficult to answer, but where there is will, there is hope, and scientists throughout the world diligently continue with their painstaking efforts to understand the issues and develop effective solutions. Thus, the aim of the study is to contribute new ideas to the general direction of the country continuity plan both at the National and State level and to create a space to generate dialog important in shaping and responding to questions about the drive in addressing innovative research in secondary-use of health data for immunization and vaccination. While, emerging young scientists have an especially important role to play toward enhancing universal health coverage. They have inherited public/environmental health issues through no fault of their own but are able to bring fresh vitality and new perspectives that can drive research and innovation forward into uncharted territories. They represent the hope for the future and deserve support by every means possible. As the amount of assistance a researcher receives has to be more nuanced when it is received than just extending simple blanket to all and sundry. Researcher thus, requires a novel system of reward as well as recognition to deal with the pandemic’s uneven impact. Thus, evidence for action need to prioritizes research to evaluate specific interventions (e.g., policies, programs, practices) that have the potential to counteract the harms of structural and improve health, well-being, and equity outcomes. This requires equal investment in implementation planning evidence and resources to ensuring research products and practices are implemented to achieve positive impact for the end-user.
Despite that health services are essential, health sector strikes have continued. The purpose here was to examine the legal and ethical justification of strikes in the Nigerian health sector. Documentary analysis and literature reviews were carried out. It was found that the Trade Disputes Act and the National Health Act do not provide for strikes by health workers. Virtue ethics does not also recognize health sector strikes. Although definite claim to the rightness or wrongness of the actions of health workers may be difficult, compliance or non-compliance to professional pledges can be associated with rightness or wrongness of their actions. It is concluded that trustees of the public health have a duty and are under obligation to respect human dignity at all times. This is because health sector strikes reflect a loss of the values of professional ethics by health workers. Discussions in bioethics among health workers can redress this loss by targeting the affective domain in health workers' learning during training.
Although medicine and politics are distinct subjects and among the oldest professions, there have been calls for medical doctors to get involved in active politics. Thus this study sought to identify and describe the relationship between medicine and politics by doing conceptual analysis of themes that are common to both disciplines. It was found that the relationship between medicine and politics has not been properly examined, especially from the Nigerian perspective. But the two professions are found to be related in the field of Social Sciences in the areas of their practitioners' calling and levels of their operation. The paper however argued that when medical practitioners abandon their duty of care to patients and seek to acquiesce to politics it is because there is a sense of loss of the leadership influence among them in the body politics of society. It concludes by suggesting that the loss can best be retrieved from the health discipline of public health, which is the point of convergence of both professions.
Background: Hand washing is a cheap and effective method of preventing nosocomial infections by health workers, but it has not been given strong policy support for resource allocation. Objectives: To describe knowledge, attitude and practice of handwashing among health care workers and to identify the factors affecting the practice in tertiary health care facilities in Bayelsa State. Methods: Four groups of health workers who work directly with patients at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital and Federal Medical Centre, both in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state, were studied. A multi-stage sampling was conducted to select 224 respondents. Self-administered and interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data which were then analysed on the Microsoft Excel programme.Response rate of 91.50% (205 respondents) was achieved. Krejcie and Morgan’s sample size formula was used at 95% confidence level. Results: 140 (68.30%) of all respondents had good knowledge of hand washing and about half have excellent hand washing practice. But only 44 (21.5%) had very good knowledge of nosocomial infections. The lack of materials such as soap, water and towels are limiting good hand washing practice. Conclusions: Although there is good knowledge of hand washing and of nosocomial infections as well as good attitude towards hand washing, they have no positive correlation with practice. Inadequate resources may be worsening nosocomial infections. Improved health policy for more health manpower and accessible resources for more regular hand washing are recommended.
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