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As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across Africa, little is known about the impact of the pandemic on health-care workers (HCWs) in the region. We designed an anonymous survey distributed via e-mail and phone messaging to 13 countries through the African Hepatitis B Network. We obtained 489 analyzable responses. We used risk ratio analysis to quantify the relationship between binary variables and χ2 testing to quantify the statistical significance of these relationships. Median age of respondents was 30 years (interquartile range, 26–36 years) and 63% were physicians. The top three sources of information used by HCWs for COVID-19 management included the Ministry of Health of each country, the WHO, and social media. Forty-nine percent reported a decrease in income since the start of the pandemic, with the majority experiencing between a 1% and a 25% salary reduction. Sixty-six percent reported some access to personal protective equipment; only 14% reported appropriate access. Moreover, one third of respondents reported no availability of ventilators at their facility. Strikingly, the percentage of HCWs reporting never feeling depressed changed from 61% before the pandemic to 31% during the pandemic, with a corresponding increase in daily depressive symptoms from 2% to 20%. Most respondents (> 97%) correctly answered survey questions about COVID-19 symptoms, virus transmission, and prevention. Our survey revealed African HCWs face a variety of personal and professional context-dependent challenges. Ongoing support of HCWs through and after the COVID-19 pandemic is essential.

BackgroundParents’ false beliefs about signs and symptoms associated with teething have been documented in many studies around the world. This study was conducted to assess parental knowledge on infant teething process and to investigate parents’ practices used to alleviate teething disturbances.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents of children of 6 months–5 years old in Taif, Saudi Arabia during April 2013. Convenience method of sampling was adopted and the data was collected by mean of a structured-questionnaire. Data was processed by SPPS. Logistic regression analysis was performed. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOverall, of 493 participants were included in the final analysis with mean age 35 years. Females constituted more than two-third. All the parents attributed one or more of the listed signs and symptoms to teething process. Desire to bite, fever, gum irritation, increased salivation and diarrhea were the most reported signs and symptoms of teething by 459 (93.1 %), 429 (87 %), 415 (84.2 %), 414 (84 %) and 409 (83 %) of the parents respectively. The only predictor of ascribing fever as a sign of infant teething was female gender (P = 0.001). However, female gender (P < 0.001), residence (P = 0.039) and educational level (P = 0.006) were found to be significantly associated with ascribing diarrhea as one of the teething symptoms. Only 91 (18.5 %) of the parents responded correctly to all questions designed to assess their knowledge on teething process.ConclusionsWide gaps in parents’ knowledge and practices related infant teething was identified. Educational interventions are needed to upgrade parents’ knowledge and improve their practices regarding infant teething process.

The current study was aimed to assess Saudi school students' knowledge, attitude and practice about medicines. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used anonymously among 15-20 year-old adolescents attending tertiary schools in Taif City, KSA. A total of 1022 students completed the questionnaires. Only 15.4% of the respondents knew the medicines' uses. Most of the students 79.6% affirmed that they used to take medicines after consulting physicians, and 45.1% of the students thought that tablet size affects the medicine's efficacy. More than half of the students knew that high temperatures affect the efficacy of medicines, there was a significant difference between rural and urban areas (P = 0.005). Physicians (50.6%) and community pharmacists (15.7%), were the main students' reliable sources of information about medicines. The majority of the students 70.5% were interested in learning more about medicines. The younger students ⩽18 years wish to learn more than the older ones (P < 0.014). The study showed that Saudi school students aged 15-20 years old have poor knowledge, misconception and negative attitudes about medicines. Low level of knowledge may expose adolescents to health-related problems. Educational efforts are important to improve students' practice toward medicines.

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Background: Mothers' attitudes are strong predicators of choice of infant feeding method. This study was conducted to measure attitudes towards breastfeeding among Saudi mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during April 2013 among Saudi nursing mothers in Taif Region; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Data was collected by trained pharmacy female students through face-to-face interview method using structured questionnaire. Mothers' attitudes towards breastfeeding were assessed by The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS). Results: A total of 387 mothers were included of them 204 (52.7%) aged < 32 years and 334 (86.3%) were residents in the town. University or college graduates were 262 (67.7%). Overall 181 (46.8%) of the mothers had positive attitudes towards breastfeeding, while 206 (53.2%) held negative ones. Correlating mothers' total attitudes towards breastfeeding to their demographics showed that; out of the mothers aged < 32 years 118 (57.8%) had significantly more positive attitudes than older ones (aged > 32 years) 63 (34.4%), (P < 0.001). Cross tabulation of the method of infant feeding and mothers' total attitudes towards breastfeeding showed that mothers used formula feeding or mixed feeding method 120 (49.0%) had significantly positive attitudes towards breastfeeding more than breastfeeding ones 61(43.0%), (P =0.025). Conclusion: The rate of exclusive breastfeeding was low. Positive attitudes towards breastfeeding was found to be more among mothers used formula or mixed feeding method. Educational interventions are needed to raise awareness and upgrade mothers' knowledge on infant breastfeeding.

Pharmaceutical representatives are an important promotional tool for pharmaceutical companies. This cross-sectional, exploratory study aimed to determine pharmaceutical representatives' beliefs and practices about their professional practice in Sudan. A random sample of 160 pharmaceutical representatives were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire. The majority were male (84.4%) and had received training in professional sales skills (86.3%) and about the products being promoted (82.5%). Only 65.6% agreed that they provided full and balanced information about products. Not providing balanced information was attributed by 23.1% to doctors' lack of time. However, 28.1% confessed they sometimes felt like hiding unfavourable information, 21.9% were sometimes or always inclined to give untrue information to make sales and 66.9% considered free gifts as ethically acceptable. More attention is needed to dissemination of ethical codes of conduct and training about the ethics of drug promotion for pharmaceutical representatives in Sudan. . Seuls 65,6 % affirmaient fournir des informations exhaustives et objectives sur les produits. Selon 23,1 % d'entre eux, l'absence d'objectivité était imputable au manque de temps des médecins. Toutefois, 28,1 % avouaient qu'il leur arrivait d'avoir le sentiment d'omettre des informations négatives, 21,9 % avaient parfois ou toujours tendance à fournir des informations fausses pour réaliser des ventes et 66,9 % considéraient les cadeaux comme éthiquement acceptables. Il est nécessaire de prêter davantage d'attention à la diffusion des codes de bonne conduite chez les visiteurs médicaux soudanais et à leur formation sur l'éthique de la promotion des médicaments.