Exploring Barriers to Effective Implementation of Public Health Measures for Prevention and Control of COVID-19 Pandemic in Gamo Zone of Southern Ethiopia: Using a Modified Tanahashi Model

Abstract

Background Since the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, different public health measures have been implemented to prevent and control the further spread of the disease. However, barriers that influence the effective implementation of public health measures were not explore in Ethiopia especially in study Area. Therefore, this study tried to fill this gap by exploring the barriers to effective implementation of public health measures for prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Gamo Zone of southern Ethiopia. Methods The study employed a qualitative study with a phenomenology approach among purposely selected 30 individuals in the community and selected institutions. Key informant interview was used to collect the data. The data were transcribed verbatim and translated into the English language. The transcribed data were read several times to clearly understand the content for further analysis. The analysis of the data was conducted based on the modified Tanahashi framework. Results The study identified different barriers under five main themes: accessibility, acceptability, availability, contact and use, and effective implementation of public health measures related to barriers. The main barriers to effective implementation of public health measures were resistance to change, negligence, lack of community engagement, insufficient training for front line workers, poor supportive supervision, poor law enforcement, and lack of continuous community awareness creation. Beside, acceptability related barriers like cultural and religious norms and availability related barriers like shortage of personal protective equipment and shortage of skilled health professional have also lion share barriers for implementation of the public health measures. Conclusion The study identified different personal, institutional, and societal level barriers for effective implementation of public health measures for the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, proper and targeted continuous community awareness creation with further mandatory law enforcement activities should be implemented by the concerned bodies to mitigate individual and societal level barriers. In addition, the government with relevant stakeholders should give due attention to equip and protect the frontline professionals by availing the necessary logistic and provision of continuous capacity-building activities.

Changing Patterns of Compliance with Protective Behavioral Recommendations in the Post First-Round COVID-19 Vaccine Period Among Healthcare Workers in Southern Ethiopia

“…Diwan et al 17 added high workload, scarcity of resources, lack of scientific information, and the perception that priority is not given to hand hygiene either at an individual or institutional level serving as barriers to maintaining good hand hygiene among healthcare workers in rural India. Boti et al 18 identified various institutional, cultural, social, and personal barriers, including negligence, inadequate training for healthcare workers, and poor supportive supervision hindering the effective implementation of public health measures for containing the fast spread of COVID-19 in Southern Ethiopia. Moore et al 15 noted that organizational circumstances, such as a positive safety climate is associated with increased healthcare workers’ adherence to universal precautions against SARS and other respiratory pathogens and suggested that providing rigorous training to healthcare workers can serve as an effective tool in changing their behavior.…”

“…Moreover, Diwan et al 17 added scarcity of resources and the perception that priority is not given to hand hygiene at various levels serving as barriers to maintaining good hand hygiene among healthcare workers in rural India. Boti et al 18 identified various institutional, cultural, social, and personal barriers, including negligence, inadequate training for healthcare workers, and poor supportive supervision, hindering the effective implementation of public health measures for containing the fast spread of COVID-19 in Southern Ethiopia. DeJoy et al 19 argues that the effort of minimizing the risks of exposure to pathogens among healthcare workers requires a system-level perspective.…”

“…Diwan et al 17 added high workload, scarcity of resources, lack of scientific information, and the perception that priority is not given to hand hygiene either at an individual or institutional level serving as barriers to maintaining good hand hygiene among healthcare workers in rural India. Boti et al 18 16 found an increasing compliance and adaptation to hand hygiene behavior among obstetric healthcare workers in Germany to prevent COVID-19 pandemic where the intention to sanitize hands is significantly associated with health workers' level of self-efficacy. On the other hand, Marjadi et al 20 uncovered that compliance to hand hygiene practices among rural Indonesian healthcare workers is poor and when it is done, it is more likely to be undertaken after direct contact with patients.…”

Adherence to COVID-19 Preventive Measures among Dental Care Workers in Vietnam: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Similar to what has been observed in other countries, the COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam revealed the inadequate cooperation of pandemic-related health services and insufficient access to PPE [ 37 ]. Attention should be paid to protecting frontline health workers by providing PPE and continuous competence training [ 38 ]. Furthermore, dental care clinics must setup a patient classification system based on dental conditions, body temperature, and TOCC (travel, occupation, contact, and cluster history), and implement strict working procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during dental treatment [ 39 ].…”

Evidence Gaps and Challenges in the Fight Against COVID-19 in Africa: Scoping Review of the Ethiopian Experience

“…[89][90][91] The findings in our review indicate that understanding the social, economic, and environmental context of the country is important to design and implement public health interventions. Particularly in countries such as Ethiopia, where multiple cultural factors, financial constraints, and health system challenges were documented as major barriers, 92 public health interventions should be tailored to cultural and social contexts of the society.…”