Gastroenterology practice in the COVID-19 era: Ghana Association for the Study of Liver and Digestive Diseases (GASLIDD) position statement

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare negatively across the globe. The practice of gastroenterology has been affected especially gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy which is considered high risk for transmission of the virus. As a community of practitioners there is the need to share information and make evidence-based statements to guide GI practice in Ghana. This GASLIDD position statement based on the growing and rapidly evolving body of knowledge is to provide up to date information on the COVID-19 disease and guidance for the practice of gastroenterology in Ghana and beyond. It is to help the GI community of practice to maintain the highest level of health delivery and safety for our patients, staff, community and GI practitioners

Knowledge, attitude and practices concerning Hepatitis B infection, among healthcare workers in Bantama, Ghana: a cross sectional study.

Background: Hepatitis B is a serious, global, public health problem that gives rise to hepatocellular carcinoma / liver cancer with a mortality rate of about 600000 people, worldwide. Despite increasing prevalence of HBV and health care workers (HCWs) being at high risk for HBV, there is paucity of information on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) concerning HBV among HCWs, especially among developing countries like Ghana. Improved HBV related knowledge is imperative for developing an informed positive environment which can import, support and maintain HVB control good practices. Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate KAP of HCWs was undertaken amongst 175 HCWs of Suntreso Government Hospital, Ghana. KAP regarding HBV were assessed using a standardized structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics for patients’ demographic characteristics and mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice of HCWs were applied. To establish association between study variables, Kruskal Wallis test and to assess the association between the KAP scores, Spearman’s rho correlation were used. Results: Mean scores for KAP were 13.691±2.81, 6.685±2.28 and 2.23±1.19 respectively. Age, occupation and experience were significantly associated with mean knowledge scores (p<0.05). Spearman rank correlation revealed significant positive correlations between knowledge-attitude (r = 0.539, p < 0.01), knowledge-practice (r = 0.388, p < 0.01) and attitude-practice (r = 0.458, p < 0.01). Conclusions: The study highlighted non-optimal KAP with regards to several aspects of HBV. Hence, there arises a need for policy guidelines along with extensive health education campaigns to manage all aspects of KAP of HCWs regarding HBV.