ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus pandemic has drastically change health institutions due to modifications to the health service delivery system. In line with this, patients visiting health institutions have markedly reduced numbers resulting in a reduced caseload of practicing physicians. Objective: This paper assessed the caseload in the radiology department of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and reported turnaround times before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary teaching hospital. Methods: Institution-based Cross-sectional study design was employed for the radiology caseload. All patients' groups seen in radiology department in all the modalities 6 months before and after the announcement of the COVID-19 in Ethiopia. For the evaluation of radiology report turnaround time, simple random sampling was employed using the source population as those 6 months before in 6 months after the declaration of Covid in Ethiopia. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 16 statistical software. Time series analysis with 95% CI was used to determine the association between different variables for radiology caseloads. Result: The trend of patient load showed a marked decrease after the COVID-19 pandemic in the radiology department. The turnaround time from study time to residents' report time (ST-RT) - after COVID-19 for MRI was increased by 17 hours. But resident report time to consultant verification time (RRT-CVT) was decreased by 1 day after the COVID-19 pandemic. For computed tomography [CT], ST-RT has decreased by 1 day and 4 hours but RRT-CVT time showed a slight increment by 1 hour and 30 min as compared to before COVID-19. This resulted in reduced exposure of residents and delays of verified patient reports. Conclusion: there is a decrease in patient load and an increase in turnaround time of radiology case reports after the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the trend before the pandemic. This will affect patient care and resident teaching. The department should look for ways of improving patient care and resident teaching through different innovative methods like the introduction of virtual education and teleradiology © 2022, Ethiopian Journal of Health Development.All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
The objectives of this report are to review for each IGAD country the overall environment for the operational feasibility of implementing IBLI. The operational feasibility areas are summarized and scored at the end of each country chapter. They include the following;Importance of pastoral livestock for economy;Impact of drought on livestock;Pastoralist demand for livestock insurance;Effective distribution channels for micro-level IBLI;Existing pastoralist beneficiary registries;Pastoralist financial literacy;Legal and regulatory insurance environment;Insurance market development;Interest from insurers in IBLI;Finance available for premiums;and Interest from government stakeholders in IBLI. This report was conducted combining a desk-based study with key informant interviews. As for Volume I, given the travel restrictions due to COVID-19, only a minimum of in-country stakeholder meetings have been possible. Instead, questionnaires were shared with more than 50 in-country expert stakeholders (of which 21 replied), including ministries of agriculture, ministries of humanitarian affairs, ministries of finance, insurance regulators, development partners, livestock associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), inquiring about the status quo of drought risk financing initiatives in IGAD countries, the status of needed operational infrastructure for a regional approach, and the interest of stakeholders to support such an approach. Where applicable, results from these questionnaires and from other stakeholder consultations were included in the country annexes (as indicated).