An integrative literature review on the impact of COVID-19 on maternal and child health in Africa.

Africa has the highest rates of maternal deaths globally which have been linked to poorly functioning health care systems. The pandemic revealed already known weaknesses in the health systems in Africa, such as workforce shortages, lack of equipment and resources. The aim of this paper is to review the published literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child health in Africa. The integrative review process delineated by Whittemore and Knafl (2005) was used to meet the study aims. The literature search of Ovid Medline, CINAHL, PubMed, WHO, Google and Google scholar, Africa journals online, MIDIRS was limited to publications between March 2020 and May 2022. All the studies went through the PRISMA stages, and 179 full text papers screened for eligibility, 36 papers met inclusion criteria. Of the studies, 6 were qualitative, 25 quantitative studies, and 5 mixed methods. Thematic analysis according to the methods of Braun and Clark (2006) were used to synthesize the data. From the search the six themes that emerged include: effects of lockdown measures, COVID concerns and psychological stress, reduced attendance at antenatal care, childhood vaccination, reduced facility-based births, and increase maternal and child mortality. A review of the literature revealed the following policy issues: The need for government to develop robust response mechanism to public health emergencies that negatively affect maternal and child health issues and devise health policies to mitigate negative effects of lockdown. In times of pandemic there is need to maintain special access for both antenatal care and child delivery services and limit a shift to use of untrained birth attendants to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths. These could be achieved by soliciting investments from various sectors to provide high-quality care that ensures sustainability to all layers of the population.

Exploring the myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines in Africa: the study to investigate their impacts on acceptance using online survey and social media.

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is the key to getting out of the pandemic. However, acceptance of the vaccine has been affected by false information and rumors, which have kept people from getting the shot since it was rolled out. Materials and Methods: This study aimed to investigate the various misconceptions surfaced about the COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. We performed an online survey using an anonymous questionnaire to reach out to African respondents by social media and all possible online platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so forth. The web-based questionnaires about the myths surrounding the vaccines were extracted from nonscientific information, unproven statements, social media posts, news reports, and people's concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Participants indicated their level of agreement with each statement. Results: A total of 2,500 people responded to the online survey in Africa. The two common myths that respondents agreed with were that "since vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, we can make vaccines for the common cold, human immunodeficiency viruses, and other diseases" (n=892, 35.7%) and that "researchers rushed the development of the COVID-19 vaccines; therefore, it is not very effective, safe and cannot be trusted" (n=595, 23.8%). The range of respondents who neither agreed nor disagreed with these myths was 12.4%-33.0%. The majority (1,931, 77.2%) indicated disagreement with the statement "after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, one can stop wearing a mask as well as taking safety precautions." Conclusion: Myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines have impact on acceptance. Exploring them helps public health authorities in Africa dispel them and provide accurate information to promote vaccination campaigns, education, and acceptance.

COVID-19 vaccines development in Africa: a review of current situation and existing challenges of vaccine production.

Following the development of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and the launching of vaccination, the World Health Organization has reported that the African Continent is lagging in the race to vaccinate its population against the deadly virus. The Continent has received a limited number of vaccines, implying that vaccine production needs to be scaled up in Africa. In this review, we summarize the current situation concerning COVID-19 vaccine development in Africa, progress made, challenges faced in vaccine development over the years and potential strategies that will harness vaccine production success.

Increasing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among the general population while maintaining autonomy.

The accelerated dissemination of coronavirus disease, its effects on the general public and healthcare system have been unparalleled. COVID-19 vaccination is critical for reducing the alarming incidence of the infection, promoting herd immunity, preventing associated mortality and morbidity, and maintaining public health and safety. Through the development of COVID-19 vaccines, many people are keen to protect themselves against the virus; however, the willingness for vaccination especially in Africa, is far below what is required to stop the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is an immediate need to implement plans aimed at increasing population vaccine willingness. The slippery slope is whether sanctions, bans and restriction should be imposed on hesitant persons, since transmission of the epidemic can be prevented through stringent enforcement of the control barriers, while eradicating the disease would necessitate vaccination. This commentary provides recommendations about how to increase population vaccine acceptance while maintaining autonomy.

Knowledge, risk perception and preparedness towards coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak among Ghanaians: a quick online cross-sectional survey.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is recognized as global pandemic, affecting more than 300,000 worldwide. Ghana joined the international community by confirming first two COVID-19 cases on March 12, 2020. The study aimed to assess the public knowledge, risk perception and preparedness to respond the COVID-19 in the early stage of the outbreak in Ghana. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect information from Ghanaian during the early stage of the outbreak from 12th to 20th March 2020. Electronic based questionnaire was developed to collected information on the public knowledge, risk perceptions and preparedness to respond the COVID-19. All people who were aged 18 years and over were invited to participate in the study. RESULTS: A total of 350 participants were recruited into the analysis; 56% were males, with the majority of the study population aged between 18-30 years (61.4%), single (68.9%) and attained tertiary education (95.1%). Regarding COVID-19, 62.7% had "good" knowledge about the outbreak, 68.3% had a high risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection and 81.4% had a moderate preparedness skill to prevent and control the disease. Internet (77.1%) was the major sources of information. Knowledge of COVID-19 was significantly associated with education (p<0.001), age (p=0.018), employment (p=0.011) and health-related occupation (P=0.001) but only religion was associated with risk perception. CONCLUSION: Though overall public knowledge was good, disparity exist among the least educated population, there was high risk perceptions and moderate preparedness skill to respond to COVID-19 among our study population. We recommend that educational campaigns through timely online update on COVID-19, van mobilization and mass media broadcasting should target all groups including those in the rural communities.