Cold chain management practices of health care workers in primary health care facilities in Southern Nigeria

Background: Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and health care workers are at a high risk of contracting and transmitting the infection. This study compares Lassa fever prevention practices among health care providers in public and private Primary Health Care facilities in Jos.Methods: The study used a comparative cross-sectional design to study health care workers in 29 Primary Health Care facilities selected using a two-stage sampling technique. All health care workers who attended to patients were interviewed using a semistructured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 and a p-value of ≤ 0.5 was considered statistically significant.Results: Majority of the respondents had neither received on-the-job training on Lassa fever prevention (91.9%) nor Universal Standard Precautions (88.7%). Private Primary Health Care facilities had better supplies and equipment for Lassa fever prevention compared to their public counterparts. Majority (65.8%) of respondents had poor Lassa fever prevention practices and this was worse in the private (75.4%) than the public (55.6%) facilities. No facility met all the requirements for Lassa fever prevention. Training had a statistically significant association with good practice among public Primary Health Care facilities. Conclusion: Noncompliance with Lassa fever prevention practice is still common in Primary Health Care facilities. This is worse in private facilities. Continuous training and improved supplies of materials and equipment are necessary for effective Lassa fever prevention among these health care providers.

Download Full-text

The capability of early detection of eye diseases in the community by primary health facility worker

Journal of Community Empowerment for Health ◽

10.22146/jcoemph.43418 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 203

Author(s):

Doni Widyandana ◽

Muhammad Eko Prayogo ◽

Suhardjo Suhardjo

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Early Detection ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Medical Records ◽

Health Care Facilities ◽

Primary Health ◽

Care Workers ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Primary Health Care Facilities

Cataract is one of the biggest causes of blindness in the world. As many as 2.4 million people suffered from cataracts in Indonesia in 2013. Therefore, early detection needs to be done to prevent further complications. However, health workers' limited ability in primary health care facilities has resulted in high cataract diagnosis rates. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of early detection of eye diseases, especially cataracts by primary health care workers. This study was conducted using a quantitative descriptive method analyzing 158 medical records as a result of early detection of primary health care facilities in Sleman Regency, which were sent to the ophthalmologist team of the Department of Eye Health FKKMK UGM to be re-examined. The re-examination results by a team of ophthalmologists received 141 medical records that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, consisting of 61 patients confirmed by cataract diagnosis (43.3%) and 80 patients with a diagnosis of not cataract (56.7%). According to the study, primary health care workers' ability towards early detection of cataracts in Sleman Regency needed to be enhanced (4.3%).

Download Full-text