This study investigates the association between individuals’ concern about contracting COVID-19 and their compliance with recommended preventive and mitigation measures, namely wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing and handwashing, in the context of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The empirical analysis is based on a panel dataset from the Combined COVID-19 MENA Monitor Household Survey, which was carried out in Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Egypt. Applying a probit estimation technique, a positive and statistically significant association was found between the level of COVID-19 worries and individuals’ compliance with the mitigation measures. Notably, the results revealed that this association followed a “first-up-then-down” trend, showing that compliance with the three mitigation measures rose as individuals’ worries about contracting the virus increased, and then markedly decreased after they had been infected. Socio-demographic characteristics contributing to lower levels of compliance included being male, being over 60, having lower levels of education and having a lower household income. A cross-country analysis revealed remarkable differences between the five countries, with the strongest association between COVID-19 concerns and adherence to mitigation measures observed in Tunisia and Sudan, and the weakest association seen in Jordan and Morocco. Policy implications are outlined for effective risk communication and management during disease outbreaks and public health emergencies to encourage appropriate public health behaviours.
Public health measures introduced in early 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19 played a critical role in mitigating the worst effects of the pandemic. This column highlights how to understand the effectiveness of these policies in MENA, and the importance of evaluating the relationship between risk perception and compliance. People’s risk perception and attitudes towards the disease varied over time and between countries, and assessing the drivers of these variations, and how they affected levels of compliance, is vital for understanding what happened and for building resilience to future crises in the region.
Adolescent sexual and reproductive health remains a major public health challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Comprehensive sex education (CSE) has been hailed as a key strategy to inform young people about sexual health and wellbeing and prevent negative health outcomes. This paper presents an overview of the trends and challenges around sex education in SSA and puts forth key recommendations for future research and policy initiatives.
Africa is currently home to some 78 million people with disabilities. Meanwhile, recent years have seen the size and populations of the continent’s major cities increasing at a startling rate. As a result, there is a pressing need to consider issues of urban design and accessibility, and how they affect people with disabilities.
Background
This paper presents findings from a qualitative effectiveness evaluation of an intervention aimed at improving caregiver-young adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) communication including training modules for caregivers on parent-child SRH communication.
Methods
Data was collected (October 2021-November 2021) using a narrative interviewing technique with thirty caregivers (8 males and 22 females), who received the parent-child communication intervention in Mbarara district, south-western Uganda. We explored caregivers’ experiences with the intervention based on four domains of change: caregiver-young adolescent communication on SRH issues, knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent SRH, parenting skills, and personal life and family. Thematic analysis was used to code and analyse the data, with attention to gender differences.
Results
Findings highlight positive parenting as a key attribute of SRH communication, along with a transformation of knowledge and attitudes towards the SRH of young adolescents leading to an overall improvement in SRH communication. However, communication is still limited to comfortable topics.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate improved caregiver–adolescent SRH communication practices following a community intervention. Programming for adolescent health on broader sexuality topics, comfortability and attitude change among caregivers could promote behaviour change on a long term. Future studies may focus on the long term impacts of interventions of this nature and test interventions aimed at addressing comfortability with discussingSRH issues.
Epidemics and institutional responses to them reveal the strengths and weaknesses of health systems. They also often engender and reflect existing political, economic and social tensions whenever and wherever they occur. This policy note outlines some of acute and chronic political and social conditions that have facilitated transmission and continue to pose a challenge for community and government responses to Ebola. It also highlights the significance of building health systems to avert and address future health crises.
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is unprecedented in its scope. This Policy Note stresses the importance of knowledge of social factors in preventing the spread of the fatal disease. There are similarities with the previous HIV/AIDS epidemic. Traditional healers and heads of households are key players for health experts to target in protecting people against infection. Normal funeral services are one source of infection. A very basic preventive measure is providing families with soap.
In Africa, as in many parts of the world, adolescent reproductive health is a controversial issue for policy makers and programme planners. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS and to a host of other problems such as sexually transmitted infection, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortions, sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and unsafe circumcision. Yet many countries don't have adolescent health policies and much remains to be done to ensure that adolescents can access appropriate sexual and reproductive health services. Articulating new perspectives and strategies to promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health, the authors of this volume, comprise a network of researchers working in east and southern Africa. They make a unique attempt to bring together the social and biomedical sciences and to disseminate concrete empirical evidence from existing programmes, carefully analysing what works and what doesn't at the local level. The chapters are built on the premise that sexual and reproductive health behaviour is multifaceted and that interventions must operate on several levels - individual, organisational and governmental - and must reach young people in schools, communities, workplaces, and health-care institutions. Cognisant of recent research and the ethical difficulties facing researchers, the authors provide practical guidance for practitioners and policymakers wishing to promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health at the policy and institutional levels and in local communities.
Early marriage and pregnancy hinder global commitment to attain gender parity in education. This article discusses educational challenges experienced by parenting college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda. The study qualitatively assessed the effects of COVID-19 on the National Teacher Colleges? learning environment. On the reopening of schools after the lockdown, colleges were overwhelmed with an increased number of students who returned either pregnant or with young babies. Colleges were not prepared since pregnancy in college is prohibited through denial of on-campus accommodation and other services. Pregnant students were stigmatized, shunned and blamed for having engaged in immoral sexual behaviour and punished for their indiscretions. Pregnant and abandoned is structural gender-based violence that manifests in the physical, emotional, economic and social violence faced by pregnancy and parenting students, the young mothers are abandoned by their families and partners, and are denied child support and other student services. Future studies need to investigate the effects of such tormenting experiences of being abandoned on the academic performance and future parenting decisions of such girls.
A recent study conducted in south-western Uganda identifies five main barriers to school-age mothers returning to school following pregnancy: negative self-perception, childcare burdens, community and family tensions, a tense school environment and ineffective policies. This policy note offers advice to policy makers at all levels and in all sectors on what they should do to tackle these barriers.
Background: The main aim of the study was to explore the attitudes and health perceptions of faith healing usersin Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. This has become necessary because faith healing practice is an important areabut remains neglected in the health care literature. In an age when biowestern medicine is touted as the cure for most diseases, understanding how and why individuals seek alternative treatment, specifically faith healingmodalities may help to develop more effective health care interventions. Methods: We employed exploratory study design of purely qualitative research approach involving 40 conveniently selected participants from four different purposively selected faith healing centres to get a maximum variation of experiences and opinions on the time of consultation, perceived effectiveness and challenges of faith healing practices in Ghana. In-depth interviews were conducted from 10th June to 30th July, 2017. Data were thematically analysed and presented based on the a posteriori inductive reduction approach. Results: The main findings were that faith healers served as the first port of call for disease curing and prevention formost users. Consumers of faith healing perceived their health status to be good due to the perceived effectiveness offaith healing for curing of health problems. However, users faced challenges such as stigmatisation and victimisation inseeking health care. Conclusion: This study has provided the first baseline evidence in this important area of inquiry that has beenneglected in the scholarly discourse in Ghana. By implication, users’ positive attitudes and perceptions toward faithhealing call for integration policies that allow formal medical services to have open idea to faith healing practices in Ghana.
As an urban anthropologist, pastor and teacher the author has lived for many years among the Zaramo. This revised doctoral thesis is an important and well documented study of the traditional healers in the urban setting.