Workplace violence against healthcare workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Sudan: A cross‐sectional study

Background Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers (HCWs) is a growing global issue. During the coronavirus diseases‐2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, violent attacks on HCWs have been documented worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude and pattern of WPV among HCWs in Sudan during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods A web‐based cross‐sectional study of WPV was conducted among registered medical and health workers (pharmacists, physicians, dentists, nurses, laboratory technicians, and administrative and paramedical staff) during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Sudan. Data were collected from August to December 2021 using a self‐administered questionnaire distributed through social media platforms. Results A total of 792 HCWs returned the online questionnaire. The mean age was 33.5 ± 8.6 years, where more than half were females (54.9%) and working during the day shift (58.8%). During the COVID‐19 pandemic, three out of every four participants (78.3%) reported experiencing violence, with 65.8 % experiencing it more than three times. The common types of violence experienced were verbal (91.6%), physical (50.0%), and sexual abuse (11.0%). The emergency department reported the highest number of violent incidents (46.9%). Half of these violent events were not reported (50.3%), primarily due to a lack of a reporting system. The demographic factors that were significantly associated with exposure to violence were participants' occupation (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.001), marital status (p = 0.002), and years of working experience (p = 0.020). Conclusion WPV was rampant among the HCWs in Sudan during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The current findings are presented to draw the attention of policy leaders and stakeholders in Sudan to this alarming problem prompting the pressing need for policy and system interventions.

Exploring Challenges to COVID-19 Vaccination in the Darfur Region of Sudan.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected the ability of health systems to provide essential services globally. The Darfur region, located in the western part of Sudan, has been largely devastated by the war that began in 2003 and has been drawing considerable attention from the international community. The war, which erupted as a result of environmental, political, and economic factors, has led to tragic outcomes. Collapsing health-care infrastructures, health workforce shortages, lack of storage facilities for medicines and medical products, and inadequate access to health services are some of the effects of the war. After Sudan received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access facility, significant challenges have been implicated in the delivery, storage, and use of the vaccine in the Darfur region. Lack of vaccine storage and transportation facilities, vaccination hesitancy, inequity in the distribution to health facilities, and shortage of health-care professionals resulting from insecurity and instability have added an extra layer of burden on local authorities and their ability to manage COVID-19 vaccinations in the region adequately. Addressing the impact of COVID-19 requires an effectively managed vaccination program. In the face of current challenges in Darfur, ensuring a fully vaccinated population might remain far-fetched and improbable if meaningful efforts are not put in place by all stakeholders and actors to address some of the challenges identified.

The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic: Vaccination challenges in Sudan.

The first COVID-19 case in Sudan was announced on March 13th, 2020. 1835 deaths were recorded as of February 7th, 2021. 800,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were allocated to Sudan through COVAX in March 2021. However, multiple challenges exist in vaccinating the Sudanese population, ranging from an inadequate cold chain system to low acceptance rates of COVID-19 vaccination among the Sudanese population. Economic crises, high inflation rates and long-standing economic sanctions have also negatively impacted the healthcare system in Sudan as a result of deprivation of access to research and development funding.