Willingness of WHO staff to work in health emergencies in the African Region: opportunity for phased deployment of staff and ensure continuity of health services

A human resource base that ensures appropriate deployment of staff to emergencies, addressing different shock events in emergencies, without disrupting continuity of service is germane to a successful response. Consequently, the WHO Health Emergencies programme in the African Region, in collaboration with Africa Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) launched the African Volunteer Health Corps (AVoHC) and Strengthening and Utilization of Response Group for Emergencies (SURGE), an initiative aimed at ensuring a pool of timely responders. We explored the willingness of WHO staff to work in emergencies. A call for expression of interest to be part of the Elite Emergency Experts (Triple E) was published on 5th July 2022 via email and was open for 5 weeks. The responses were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics and presented with graphic illustrations. A total of 1253 WHO staff, from all the six WHO regions, cutting across all cadre, applied to the call. The applicants had various trainings and experiences in emergency and have responded to mostly disease outbreaks. Two-third of the applicants were males. This paper did not explore reasons for the willingness to work in emergencies. However, contrary to fears expressed in literature that health workers would not want to work in emergencies with potential for infections, the applicants have worked mostly in infectious emergencies. Literature identified some themes on factors that could impact on willingness of health workers to work in emergencies. These include concerns for the safety of the responders and impact of partners, child and elderly care, as well as other family obligations, which emergency planners must consider in planning emergency response.

Factors inhibiting and enabling performance-based financing in health care delivery across low and middle-income countries: a scoping review

Background: Emerging financing strategies in the health sector have been developed to improve the impact of investments and enhance healthcare outcomes. One promising approach is Results-based Financing, which establishes a connection between financial incentives and pre-established performance targets. This innovative approach holds the potential to strengthenhealthcare delivery and strengthen overall healthcare systems.Aim:The scoping review endeavored to systematically delineate the body of evidence pertaining tofacilitators and barriers to the implementation of performance-based financing within the realm of healthcare provision in low-and middle-income nations.Methods:The review used Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and a Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to select, appraise, and report the findings. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases and grey literature published between January 2000 and March 2022. We conducted the abstract screening with two independent reviewers. We also performed full-article screening. We used the six methodological frameworks proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. The results were thematically analyzed.Results:Of the 1071 searched studies, 34 met the eligibility criteria. 41% of the studies were descriptive, 26% cross-sectional, 18% trial, and 15% cohort studies. The enabling and inhibiting factors of performance-based financing in healthcaredelivery have been identified. Moreover, the review revealed that performance-based financing's influence on service delivery is context-specific.Conclusion:The facilitators and impediments to the effectiveness of performance-based financing in enhancing service delivery are contingent upon a holistic comprehension of the contextual factors, meticulous design, and efficient execution. Factors such as the level of care facilities, presence of community-based initiatives, stakeholder involvement, and participatory design emerge as key facilitators. Conversely, barriers such as communication obstacles, inadequacies in the PBF models, and deficiencies in the healthcare workforce are recognized as inhibitors. By harnessing the insights derived from a multitude of evidence incorporated in this scrutiny, stakeholders can deftly navigate the intricacies of performance-based financing, while also considering the prospective areas for further exploration and research

Assessment of the implementation of respectful maternity care charter in North Central Nigeria (Federal Capital Territory and Kwara State): study protocol

Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) charter is one of the tools for ensuring quality of care in maternity services. Nigeria is a signatory to RMC charter; therefore, the charter is expected to be the standard of care. However, in Nigeria and other countries, reports of disrespectful maternity care abound; this discourages women from accessing facility-birth. Therefore, to improve the quality of care towards increase in uptake, it is expedient to assess the level of implementation of the RMC charter by key stakeholders for sustainability, impact and scale-up of charter-compliant maternity care in Nigeria. The study aims to assess the implementation of RMC charter in North-central Nigeria. The study is a mixed-method, cross-sectional study; the expected participants are key stakeholders in healthcare (Healthcare workers, Healthcare Administrators, Project Managers, Policy makers) in North-Central Nigeria (Federal Capital Territory and Kwara state). A multistage sampling technique would be used to enroll participants from 18 healthcare facilities (Primary, Private, Secondary and Tertiary) in rural and urban areas and Ministries of Health officials at local and state government levels. Expected outcomes: The study is expected to provide information on the current status of knowledge and implementation of the RMC charter in Nigeria. It would also identify the enablers and barriers to the implementation process and provide evidence for effective scale-up of the process in Nigeria. The outcomes will be widely disseminated to healthcare workers, health administrators and decision-makers in healthcare services through post-study meetings, conference presentations, journal publications and policy briefs for effective RMC charter implementation in Nigeria.

Health ramifications and recovery avenues for Sudan's April 2023 armed conflict: A review

Background: Sudan's history is marred by ongoing sociopolitical challenges, with deep cultural divisions fueling numerous wars. A new conflict erupted on April 15, 2023, pushing the country closer to a full-scale civil war. This war has severely crippled Sudan's already fragile healthcare system, rendering 70% of hospitals in combat zones nonoperational, causing 12,000 deaths, thousands of injuries, and leaving 11 million in dire need of healthcare. More than seven million people are displaced, half of which are children, and are facing severe health challenges, especially vulnerable groups. Heath situation is threatening with unchecked spread of outbreaks of communicable diseases that were previously controlled and marked failure in meeting the health demands of patients with noncommunicable diseases, reproductive and child health issues, and people with serious conditions that require adequate follow-up. Moreover, the projections threaten with more catastrophic consequences including famine, environmental destruction, and further displacement of people. This review article highlights the urgency of the situation and explores potential solutions to enrich global understanding of crisis management. Methods: To comprehensively assess the impact of the crisis and propose a way forward, we drew data by exploring search engines and databases such as Google, Humanitarian Agencies Websites, Google Scholer, and PubMed along with some relevant reports. The search terms included are "Sudan's war", "impact of war on healthcare systems", and "Sudan's armed conflicts". Results: More than 19 publications on the impact of the war on health in addition to periodic reports from international organizations and governmental authorities were reviewed. Conclusion: Although all publications point to the gravity of the situation and the need for prompt response, this crisis offers a unique opportunity to rebuild Sudan's struggling healthcare system with the principles of social accountability. Through domestic and international collaboration, this sector can become a model for similar nations, meeting the needs of its people and promoting sustainable development.

Prédicteurs de mortalité précoce en cours d'hospitalisation des enfants malnutris aigus sévères de 0-59 mois au CHU Sourou Sanou, Bobo-Dioulasso / Predictors of early mortality during hospitalization of severe acute malnourished children aged 0-59 months at CHU Sourô Sanou, Bobo-Dioulasso

Objectifs : étudier les facteurs de risque de mortalité des enfants malnutris aigus sévères (MAS) dans les 72 premières heures d'hospitalisation. Méthode : Nous avons mené une étude rétrospective sur des données d'enfants MAS de 0-59 mois, hospitalisés du 1er juin 2016 au 31 mai 2019 au CHUSourô Sanou (CHUSS) de Bobo-Dioulasso. Une régression logistiquea été réalisée pour déterminer les facteurs de risque de décès. Les variables avec un odds ratio (OR) >1, et p 3s [OR :3.55, 95%IC: 1.50-8.27], le sepsis [OR : 3.39, 95%IC: 1.33-8.50], étaient les facteurs de risque prédictifs de mortalité. Conclusion : Une formation et supervision continue du personnel soignant sur la prise en charge des urgences pédiatriques, l'utilisation du protocole OMS de prise en charge de la MAS, la disponibilité de kits d'urgence pourraient améliorer la prise en charge des MAS. Mots clés : Mortalité, précoce, MAS, BoboDioulasso

Objectives: to study risk factors for mortality in SAM children within the first 72 hours of hospitalization. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on data from 0-59-month-old SAM children hospitalized from June 1th, 2016, to May 31th, 2019, at CHUSourô Sanou of Bobo-Dioulasso. A logistic regression was performed to determine risk factors for death. Variables with odds ratio (OR) > 1, and p 3seconds [OR :3.55, 95%IC: 1.50-8.27], sepsis[OR :3.39, 95%IC: 1.33-8.50]were the risk factors predictive of mortality. Conclusion: Training and ongoing supervision of healthcare staff in the management of paediatric emergencies, the use of the WHO SAM management protocol and the availability of emergency kits could improve SAM management

Primary healthcare training in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Family medicine is a relatively new discipline in the Democratic of the Congo. It was developed under South­South and Churches Collaboration with the aim of responding in a cost-efficient manner to the crisis of health practitioners in mostly Christian and protestant hospitals based in rural areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Strengthening healthcare through family medicine training in the Gambia: The journey so far

According to the World Health Organizations (WHO) family medicine forms the bedrock upon for accessible, affordable and equitable healthcare for any country. The need for family doctors is more acute for low income countries like The Gambia. More so that The Gambian health infrastructure is suboptimal and appropriate health personnel is low. This is worsened by brain drain leading to poor health indices. Despite these challenges and more, the department of Family Medicine was accredited for training in the Gambia with improved infrastructure (at the training centre), with 7 residents. Though there are still challenges there are also opportunities and strengths. There is therefore hope that the right personnel will be produced for an improved Gambian health system.

In-Hospital continuous medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease as it is spread by contact with infected surfaces and inhalation of droplets. Several measures have been put in place to prevent the COVID-19 infection one of which is social distancing and physical distancing. Some in-hospital continuous medical education was suspended during the pandemic.Objective of Study: The objective of the study is to investigate the impact of social distancing on In-hospital continuous professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic.Research methodology:This is a cross-sectional study conducted among doctors working in Nigeria irrespective of their cadre or location. Aself-administered online questionnaire was used to generate data for this study. There was no risk of participating in the study. Results:The respondents in this study were 62. The majority 51(82.3%) had different in-hospital continuous medical education (CME) activities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when there was a ban in Nigeria on the gathering of more than 20 persons; the CME activities were via Zoom video conferencing 44 (71%) App. The majority of the respondents however preferred a face-to-face (physical) meeting [40(74.2%)] and also learnt better during a face-to-face meeting [46(74.2%)]. Conclusion:CME is very important in healthcare so COVID-19 did not stop it although it went through a lot of transformation in the mode it was delivered

Care-recipient perspectives on the responsiveness of Orthopedic surgical services in a tertiary center in Nigeria

Responsiveness optimisesthe system-based approach to meeting legitimate demands by healthcare recipients. This study assessed the responsiveness of orthopaedic services at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) from the perspectives of the care recipients. Methods:Descriptive cross-sectional study among 442 consecutively recruited recipients of orthopaedic services at UPTH from March to June 2020. Close-ended questionnaire with responsiveness conceptualised by five constructs: dignity, autonomy, confidentiality, quality of basic amenities and choice of care provider, each measured along 4-point response scale. The internal consistency reliability of the responsiveness scale was determined by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Descriptive (frequency, percentages, bar charts) and inferential (ordinal logistic regression) statistics were conducted and p-values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Response rate was 97.3% and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the responsiveness scale was 0.83. Participants' mean age was 38.5±14.8years with more being males (55.8%), privately employed (34.9%) and completed secondary education (82.5%). Proportion of respondents who gave excellent ratings across responsiveness domains were dignity (32.8%), autonomy (34.2%), confidentiality (26.3%), amenities (25.8%) and no excellent rating for choice of provider. Marital, employment and visit status were the most consistent factors associated with feedback on autonomy, choice of providers, confidentiality domains.Conclusion: More orthopaedic patients were pleased with the level of autonomy and dignity than choice of providers and quality of basic amenities. There is the need for enhanced responsiveness of orthopedic services to meeting the unique needs of patients and achieving improved quality of care and patient outcomes

Healthcare providers' satisfaction with participation in private health insurance scheme in a city in the southern Nigeria

Health insurance coverage in Nigeria is still very low as over 70% of health care expenditure is financed by out-of-pocket payment. Health care providers are critical participants in the private health insurance scheme, therefore, their perception and satisfaction with the scheme is fundamental in ensuring sustainability. This study assessed health providers' satisfaction with private health insurance scheme in Port Harcourt Rivers State.Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study which engaged a two-stage sampling method to recruit 60 participating health facilities and 180 responding health personnel by simple random sampling at each stage. A structured, pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the levels of satisfaction with the four major domains of satisfaction viz; billing rate, payment models, HMO administrative processes and claims management. Data was analysedusing of SPSS, version 26. Characteristics of the responding facilities were tabulated and compared. Level of satisfaction was deduced by Likert Scale according to the domains of satisfaction. Regression analysis with p-value was set at less than or equal to 0.05 was used to determine the predictors of satisfaction with participation in health insurance. The level of satisfaction with negotiated billing rates, payment models, HMO administrative processes and claims management were analyseddescriptively, and results were presented as means, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages, in tables, pie and bar charts

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on theatre use at the rahima moosa mother and child hospital

SARS-COV-2, the viral pathogen that resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic, was first identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 December 2019. Efforts to curb the spread of this virus, as well as the effects of viral infections and resulting complications thereof, have placed immense strain on healthcare systems throughout the world. In South Africa, a nationwide lockdown was instituted on 27 March 2020 which resulted in the suspension of all elective surgical services. The effect of this suspension of services has not been fully elucidated, but it has been postulated that a significant surgical backlog may have been created due to limited resources and massive pre-existing patient loads. Methods: We conducted a retrospective descriptive review of theatre records at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital (RMMCH) for the time period 1 March 2019 to 28 February 2021. Results: A total of 8 176 cases amounting to 9 656 hours and 20 minutes of theatre time occurred from 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020 (pre-COVID-19). From 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2021 (post-COVID-19), a total of 7 717 cases amounting to 9 148 hours and 2 minutes were conducted. This calculated to a 5.61% reduction in cases and a 5.26% reduction in theatre hours. There was a statistically significant reduction in theatre use both in terms of cases done and hours of theatre time after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the number of cases completed at the RMMCH. It also led to a significant reduction in total theatre use. Both of these findings were most pronounced in elective gynaecology and paediatric surgery services. There was, however, no statistically significant increase in intensive care unit (ICU) and high care (HC) admissions as well as mortalities for the period studied

Coping with the economic burden of non-communicable diseases among hypertensive and diabetic patients in private and public health facilities in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Objective: To assess and compare how private and public health facilities patients cope with the economic burden of non-communicable diseases. Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Setting: Thirty-nine private and eleven public health facilities in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria Participants: Three hundred and forty-eight (Private:173; Public:175) patients with hypertension or diabetes, or both were recruited. Main Outcome Measures: Specific coping methods and numbers of coping strategies used by participants, as well as the perceived ability of participants to cope with the economic burden of non-communicable diseases. Results: Majority of participants paid through out-of-pocket (OOP) than through health insurance(HI) (Private:OOP:90.2% HI:9.8%; Public:OOP:94.3% HI:5.7%; p=0.152). More participants in private used instalment payments(p<0.001). However, other coping strategies showed no significant difference in both groups(p>0.05). Delayed treatment (Private:102; Public:95) was the most used strategy in both arms, and the number of strategies used by the participants showed no significant difference(p=0.061). Lower levels of education, out-of-pocket payment, increasing number of clinic visits, and hospital admission were associated with the use of higher numbers of coping strategies in both groups while being female and retired/unemployed were associated with the private arm. Conclusion: Although most patients in both groups pay out-of-pocket and use detrimental coping strategies, more patients in private arm use instalment payment, a non-detrimental method. Healthcare providers, especially public providers, should adopt policies encouraging patients to use non-detrimental coping strategies to meet their healthcare expenditures.

Antibiotic consumption history of patients in a referred laboratory in Yaounde

Background. Regulation of antibiotic prescription and consumption remain a major public health burden in low- and middle-income country. This study aimed to describe the antibiotic consumption of patients who had a positive antibiotic culture in a reference laboratory. Methods. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted among 113 participants with positive antibiogram with a documented history of antibiotics intake at the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (YUTH) in Cameroon between January 2016 to June 2021. Data were stored and analyzed using the Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro) version 7.3 and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25.0. Descriptive statistic was used to estimate the indicators. Results. Of the 113 patients enrolled, 105 had a history of drug use; 56 participants (53, 3%) had taken at least 2 antibiotics prior to sampling. Cephalosporins were the most consumed antibiotics (41, 0%), followed by nitroimidazols (28, 6%) and penicillins (28,6%). According to the WHO classification, 55 (52, 4%) took the major priority antibiotics. Conclusion. We are on the alert and there is an urging need to raise awareness among clinicians and patients alike by providing them with good clinical practice guidelines.

The burden of healthcare-associated infection in Moroccan hospitals: systematic review and meta-analysis

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI), also referred to as nosocomial infections, is defined as an infection acquired in a hospital setting. This infection is considered a HAI if it was not present or incubating at the time of admission. This includes infections acquired in the hospital but appearing after discharge, and also occupational infections among staff of the facility. HAI are a major patient safety measure to be considered in hospitals.

Healthcare users' knowledge and experiences regarding the management of scabies in the Deder district, Ethiopia

Background. Scabies is an ectoparasitic, highly contagious skin disease caused by a human itch mite infes tation of the skin, and it is the leading cause of morbidity and disease burden in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate healthcare users' current knowledge and experiences with scabies management provided at primary healthcare facilities. Materials and Methods. A qualitative research design was used to address the research objectives. Focus group interviews with 58 health care users were used to collect data. Thematic analysis was performed on the verbatim transcriptions using Tesch's approach. Results. The findings showed that the knowledge of healthcare users who participated in the study on scabies, its management, prevention, and control was limited. Health care users experience different chal lenges regarding scabies and the management thereof. Five themes emerged after data analysis. These were knowledge regarding scabies, knowledge regarding the management of scabies, knowledge regarding the prevention of scabies, perceptions regarding receiving treatment for scabies, and recommendations regarding the availability of materials and medication. Conclusions. Healthcare users in the area had limited knowledge and experienced different challenges regarding scabies and their management. These challenges contribute to low quality health services with undesir able health outcomes. To narrow this gap, consistent and programed health education was provided to the community through different modalities by using the existing health system to increase awareness regarding scabies. Following the implementation of community awareness, each commu nity member was positioned to prevent and control scabies.

Success factors for evidence-based healthcare practice adoption

Background: Evidence-based health policies are widely acknowledged as being essential for attaining ongoing improvements in health outcomes. This study represents a theoretical model to test and identify to identify the key drivers for adopting evidence-based healthcare practice (EBHP). Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the critical success factors for the adoption of evidence-based healthcare at a South African public hospital. Methods: Medical healthcare professionals were surveyed using a questionnaire developed by the researcher. The results were analysed with SPSS 23 and AMOS. A hypothetical model based on updated (D&M) IS Success Model, Technology, Organization and Environment framework (TOE) as well as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results: The findings of this study indicate that EHR is crucial and the main construct influencing the adoption of EBHP. The findings of this study indicated a positive relationship between the construct electronic health records (EHR) with medical error reduction (MER), information quality (IQ) and knowledge quality (KQ), all showed a strong positive correlation towards the adoption of EBHP. Conclusions: Better coordination of patient care (BCP) typically results in lower health care costs. The results also show that using EBHP improves the accuracy of disease diagnosis and treatment, which lowers the burden of disease. Contribution: The developed framework will help healthcare systems that are strapped for money, particularly in developing countries.

Clinical characteristics and variables associated with COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in Luanda, Angola, in the first year of the pandemic

Background: The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa is still unclear. In comparison to Europe and North America, morbidity and death rates are lower. Several factors have been proposed, including geographical variation in virus impact, environmental factors, differences in age distribution, and the impact of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV infection and tuberculosis. Objectives: We investigated the clinical characteristics and putative determinants linked with COVID-19 in Angolan patients. Methods: Cross-sectional study undertaken at Military Hospital, Luanda, from March 2020 to March 2021. The survey collected sociodemographic and clinical information. Results: The sample included 1,683 patients aged ≥18 years, 64% men, with mean age of 46.3 years. SARS-CoV-2 was positive in 39% of the cases with RT-PCR. Patients ≥46 years with a level of education of ≥12 years had a considerably higher likelihood of testing positive. About 58% of positive patients had at least one comorbidity, of which hypertension and Diabetes were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. HIV and pulmonary TB were putative protective factors. About 14% of positive patients died. Most deaths occurred in patients ≥46 years, with less education and unemployed. Working as a healthcare practitioner was linked to a protective effect. Malignant diseases were the most common comorbidities associated with death. Conclusions: We identified putative factors related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality. HIV and TB were protective and not associated with mortality. Further study with a broader scope should be conducted to explain the main features related to COVID-19 mortality in Angola

Healthcare professionals' perceived stigmatization about direct care of COVID-19 Patients: development and validation of the discrimination about COVID-19 (DisCOV-19) instrument

Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health concern worldwide. Healthcare professionals are among the most vulnerable groups in the fight against COVID-19 because they are directly involved in the care of at-risk persons and patients with Covid-19. Objectives: This study aimed to measure the level to which healthcare workers feel that they can be discriminated due to their involvement in the direct care of COVID-19 patients. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among healthcare professionals in Nigeria. A nineteen-item discrimination against COVID-19 (DisCOV-19) questionnaire was developed and validated for the study. Descriptive statistics and OneWay Analysis of Variance were used for data analysis. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of the 286 healthcare practitioners that participated in the study, 58.4% and 30.1% were pharmacists and physicians, respectively. The majority of the participants were at least "moderately concerned" about disability (60.9%), death (71.7%), unknown complications (65.1%), and risk of infecting family members and friends (83.2%) if asked to provide care for COVID-19 patients. The physicians had a significantly higher mean discrimination score compared to the pharmacists (p=0.041). Pharmacists had a significantly lower mean discrimination score than the nurses (p=0.011). Conclusions: Many of the healthcare professionals reported a certain level of concern and perceived that they could face some forms of discrimination for providing care to COVID-19 patients

Pregnant women awareness and attitude on use of patient information leaflets (PILs) in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Patient information leaflets are valuable documents that inform and guide users, particularly pregnant women, about medication. Thispaper examined pregnant women's awareness and attitude toward the use of patient information leaflets. Thestudy employed a cross-sectional survey design, using a structured questionnaire for data collection. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting three public comprehensive health centres in the Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti state, Nigeria,for two weekswhileconvenience sampling technique was used in selecting the patients. Participants included 120 pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics during the antenatal meeting days. Data were collected atthe antenatal clinicsusing a questionnaire. Ninety copies of the questionnaire were returned and found useful for the study. The results showed that most of the pregnant women were aware of the patient information leaflets enclosed in medicine packs and the extent of use was encouraging. The pregnant women had a positive attitude to the patient information leaflet. Also, the respondents had a high level of patient information leaflet use. Reading difficulty (=2.91) was one of the biggest challenges for pregnant women when going through the patient information leaflets. The study also found that pregnant women's awareness and attitudes influenced their use of patient information leaflets. Among other things, it was recommended that health information professionals collaborate with healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies to ensure the accuracy, readability and cultural appropriateness of patient information leaflets for pregnant women.

Exploring a community's understanding of HIV vaccine-induced seropositivity in a South African research setting

Background. The high HIV prevalence and incidence in South Africa makes it suitable for recruitment of participants for large-scale HIV preventive vaccine trials. However, fear of vaccine-induced seropositivity (VISP) may be a barrier for community acceptability of the trial, for volunteers to participate in HIV preventive vaccine trials and for uptake of an efficacious vaccine. Prior to 2015, when the first phase 1 safety HIV vaccine trial was undertaken at Setshaba Research Centre, Soshanguve, the local community stakeholders and healthcare workers were naive about HIV vaccine research and HIV preventive vaccines. Objective. To explore knowledge and perceptions regarding VISP among community stakeholders and healthcare workers in peri-urban Soshanguve, Tshwane.Methods. Using a quantitative-qualitative mixed-methods study design, surveys (n=50) and in-depth interviews (n=18) were conducted during July - August 2015. Participants included community stakeholders, community advisory board members and healthcare workers, who were >18 years old and had attended community educational workshops during September 2014 - May 2015. Audio recordings of interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using content thematic analysis. Data were further analysed by sex, age and educational level.Results. Of a maximum score of 2 on knowledge on VISP, the 50 survey participants (mean age 33.78 years; 45 females) obtained an average of 0.88 (44%). Of 17 in-depth interviewees (one interview could not be transcribed; mean age 30.9 years; 12 females), 8 (47%) displayed some knowledge about VISP, of whom only 5 defined VISP correctly. Women were more knowledgeable about VISP than men; 5 of 12 women (42%) came close to defining VISP correctly, while none of the 5 men did so. The main fear of trial participation expressed by most participants (n=6) was testing HIV-positive as a result of the vaccine. While some participants believed that the community's perceptions of VISP would negatively affect HIV vaccine trial support and recruitment efforts, others noted that if trial participants understand the concept of VISP and are part of support groups, then they would have the information to combat negative attitudes within their community. Conclusion. Most participants had an inaccurate and incomplete understanding of VISP. Many feared testing HIV-positive at clinics; therefore, education on improving a basic understanding of how vaccines work and why VISP occurs is essential. In addition, assessing participant understanding of HIV testing, transmission and VISP is critical for recruitment of participants into HIV vaccine trials and may improve acceptability of an HIV preventive vaccine