Corrigendum: Interdisciplinary Assessment of Hygiene Practices in Multiple Locations: Implications for COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness in Vietnam.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.589183.].

Gaps in awareness of climate variability and its impacts on society among health professionals and community workers in Vietnam: Implications for COVID-19 and other epidemic response systems.

The study presents a cross-sectional analysis via a web-based survey to assess the awareness and experiences of Vietnamese health professionals and community workers on climate and epidemic changes and their impacts on society. Health professionals, medical students, and community workers were included in the survey. Factor analysis was used to explore the construct validity of measures, and Multivariable Tobit regression models were used to examine associated factors with awareness about climate and epidemic changes and impacts on society. Results showed that the awareness of participants about climate and epidemic changes was moderately-low, while the awareness about the impacts on society were moderately high. Community workers show higher awareness of climate and epidemic changes compared to health professionals. People working in provincial levels had a lower score (Coef. = -0.64, 95%CI = -1.19 to -0.09) than those working in central level. Compared to Northern participants, those living in Central and Southern regions have lower awareness scores regarding "Changes in weather and epidemics" and "Changes in the environment" compared to Northern people. The higher awareness about climate and epidemic changes were found to be correlated with the higher awareness of "Impacts on health, society and economy" and "Impact on individuals and families". Community workers scored lower in "Impact on individuals and families" compared to health professionals (Coef.-0.75; 95%CI = -1.34 to -0.16). This study emphasized the vulnerabilities of Vietnamese communities to epidemics and climate change. It suggests the involvements of intersectoral taskforces in the preparedness and responses to climate change and epidemics.

Interdisciplinary Assessment of Hygiene Practices in Multiple Locations: Implications for COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness in Vietnam.

Due to the shared border with China, Vietnam faced risks from the COVID-19 pandemic at the early stages of the outbreak. Good hygiene practices were considered an effective prevention method, but there were only minimal data on the effectiveness of hygiene practices against the pandemic at the community level. Thus, this study aims to assess hygiene practices in society by using a community-based survey. A cross-sectional study using survey monkey was conducted from December 2019 to February 2020. The Snowball sampling technique was used to recruit participants and exploratory factor analysis was applied to scrutinize the construct validity of the measurement. We used the Tobit regression model to assess the association. Hygiene in a high-risk environment and hygiene in the social and educational environment were two main factors after applying the EFA method. Participants grade community sanitation quite low (around 6 out of 10). Furthermore, the mean score of hygiene practice at a local level in a high-risk environment was slightly low at 6.0. The score of sanitation in the Central region (5.3) was quite low compared to the North (5.8) and the South (6.2). The most high-risk environment was construction, industrial zone and food safety. Moreover, younger respondents were more likely to report poorer hygiene practices in high-risk environments (Coefficient = -1.67; 95% CI = -3.03; -0.32) and social and educational environment (Coefficient = -1.29; 95% CI = -2.54; -0.04). Our study gives an insight into pandemic preparedness at the grassroots level. The findings suggest the necessity of specific communication education for society to improve the compliance of hygiene practices to prevent the spreading of COVID-19.

Feasibility of Intersectoral Collaboration in Epidemic Preparedness and Response at Grassroots Levels in the Threat of COVID-19 Pandemic in Vietnam.

To effectively control the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak in later stages in Vietnam requires addressing the existing gaps in the national health emergency framework, consolidate, and inform its structure, we conducted this study to evaluate the importance and collaborative mechanism between health and community service workers with intersectional organizations at grassroots levels in Vietnam. A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted from 12/2019 to 02/2020 on 581 participants (37 health workers, 473 medical students, and 71 community service workers). The snowball sampling technique was used to recruit participants. We used exploratory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the questionnaire measuring the perceived efficiency of involving community service workers in health care-related activities and Tobit models to examine its associated factors. The results showed the importance of local organizations in epidemic preparedness and response at grassroots levels, with scores ranging from 6.4 to 7.1, in which the Vietnam Youth Federation played the most important role (mean = 7.1, SD = 2.2). Of note, community service workers were viewed as performing well in health communication and education at agencies, schools, and other localities. Medical students perceived higher efficiency of involving community service workers in health care-related activities at grassroots levels as compared to health workers. We encourage the government to promote intersectoral collaboration in epidemic preparedness and response, giving attention to scale up throughout training as well as interdistrict and interprovincial governance mechanisms.

Evaluating Training Need for Epidemic Control in Three Metropolitans: Implications for COVID-19 Preparedness in Vietnam.

Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries worldwide face a critical shortage of human resources in the health sector. Medical students are a potential task force with the capability to support the stretched health sector. This study aims to evaluate their training need for epidemic control in order to employ them effectively. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a web-based survey from December 2019 to February 2020. There were 5,786 observations collected using the snowball sampling technique. Logistic regression was applied to identify factors associated with training participation in epidemic prevention and disaster prevention. Multiple Poisson regression model was constructed to examine factors associated with the number of times they participated in sanitation training and disaster prevention activities in the previous 12 months. Sanitation and health education communication activities had the highest proportion of participants, with 76.5 and 38.4%, followed by examining and treating diseases in the community (13.4%). Those who participated in community activities had a higher number of times to participate in epidemic sanitation training and be involved in disaster prevention. This study informed the need for training programs to prepare medical students for COVID-19 epidemic responses. The training curriculum should include both theoretical approaches and contextual approaches to achieve efficient epidemic control.

Coverage of Health Information by Different Sources in Communities: Implication for COVID-19 Epidemic Response.

Health personnel and community workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 emergency response and need to be equipped with adequate knowledge related to epidemics for an effective response. This study aimed to identify the coverage of COVID-19 health information via different sources accessed by health workers and community workers in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study using a web-based survey was carried out from January to February 2020 in Vietnam. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used for recruiting participants. We utilized the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to examine the construct validity of the questionnaire. A higher percentage of participants knew about "Clinical and pathogen characteristics of COVID-19", compared to "Regulations and policies related to COVID-19". The percentage of participants accessing the information on "Guidelines and policies on prevention and control of COVID-19" was the lowest, especially among medical students. "Mass media and peer-educators" channels had a higher score of accessing COVID-19 information, compared to "Organizations/ agencies/ associations" sources. Participants consumed most of their COVID-19 information via "Internet, online newspapers, social networks". Our findings indicate an urgency to re-design training programs and communication activities for a more effective dissemination of information related to the COVID-19 epidemic or epidemics in general.