COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is spreading rapidly worldwide, with devastating consequences for patients, healthcare workers, health systems, and economies. As it reaches low-and middle-income countries, the pandemic puts healthcare workers at high risk and challenges the abilities of healthcare systems to respond to the crisis. This study measured levels of knowledge and preparedness regarding COVID-19 among physicians and nurses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Libya between February 26 and March 10, 2020. We obtained 1,572 valid responses of a possible 2,000 (78.6%) participants from 21 hospitals, of which 65.1% were from physicians and 34.9% from nurses. The majority of participants (70%) used social media as a source of information. A total of 47.3% of doctors and 54.7% of nurses received adequate training on how to effectively use personal protective equipment. Low confidence in managing suspected COVID-19 patients was reported by 83.8% of participants. Furthermore, 43.2% of healthcare workers were aware of proper hand hygiene techniques. Less than 7% of participants received training on how to manage COVID-19 cases, whereas 20.6% of doctors and 26.3% of nurses felt that they were personally prepared for the outbreak. Awareness and preparedness for the pandemic were low among frontline workers during the study. Therefore, an effective educational training program should be implemented to ensure maintenance of appropriate practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Organ transplantation is a new treatment for end-stage organ failure. However, the total number of transplants performed in Malaysia in 2012 was only 94. Rates of deceased and living donors in Malaysia for 2012 were chronically low (0.55 and 1.87 per million population, respectively). A sample of 350 respondents in mosques, hospitals, and universities in various places in the Klang Valley, Kelantan and Pahang were collected between October and December 2013 to investigate the level of knowledge of health care professionals (HCPs), religious leaders (RLs), and academics (ACAs) and their stand on two issues on brain death. The result on the first issue (procuring organs from brain dead donors for transplantation) revealed that 52.8%, 23.7%, and 23.4% of HCPs, RLs, and ACAs, respectively, were in support of it; 30.2%, 31.8%, and 45.2% were uncertain about it; and 17%, 44.5%, and 31.5% were against it. On the second issue (terminating the life support machine of a brain dead person), 60.4%, 35.7%, and 25% of HCPs, RLs, and ACAs, respectively, were in support of it; 26.4%, 36.4%, and 38.7% were uncertain about it; and 13.2%, 27.7%, and 36.3% were against it. The lack of knowledge on Islam brain death-related issues should be addressed by educational efforts targeting these three groups of professionals. Special emphasis should be paid to educating RLs as they can channel their knowledge and perception to the other groups and to the Muslim public.

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