Knowledge and Attitude of Women Attending Polyclinic-Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) on Ebola Prevention
Author(s): Ousman Bajinka, Aja Bajinka, Pierre Njie
The prevention and control of infectious diseases has been given all rooms in the medical field. In the last decades, the battle to fight against infectious diseases has gained an upper hand, however with the outbreak of Ebola in the early 2014, the fear and terror won the heart of everyone including the health care providers. There is a need for the health care systems to adjust to the prevention and control of this infection. In the control of spreading and transmission of this dreadful disease, emergency teams have been established in almost every hospital and health centers across the country, The Gambia. Part of the measures that are to be taken in controlling the transmission of Ebola is to create awareness among the people in the communities.
In a bid to measure the level of awareness and the attitudes by the people, although there has been no Ebola suspected or confirmed case in Gambia, the need to measure how prepared her people is a right function. Women attending the polyclinic were taken on one on one interview with 132 participants whose responses were analyzed and evaluated. This study focuses on the measurement of the degree of awareness, the type of reactions that women who attend polyclinic manifested on Ebola prevention approaches. The level of awareness of Ebola outbreak and the attitudes of women attending polyclinic is not very impressive. While 48% of the respondents are aware of Ebola, 64% could accurately identify the signs and symptoms of Ebola, Almost everyone were first informed about the outbreak on the national TV. The level of understanding as to prevention and control of spreading is far below average and 76% of the respondents would welcome a family member or friend who would have been recovered from Ebola Viral Infection.