Peri-urban schools of Kinshasa before and during COVID-19: an evaluation of water, handwashing facilities, and girl students’ hand hygiene practices

Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development (2023) 13 (2): 103–112.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led communities, including Kinshasa peri-urban schools, to reinforce WASH-related practices as a key component in preventing the spread of COVID-19. This study aimed to determine the institutional and behavioural changes in adolescent girl students’ handwashing practices before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was performed, observing the hand hygiene of adolescent girl students, and assessing WASH facilities at schools, chosen from a sample previously selected in the study area. The results indicate significant increases in the prevalence of water points in schools from 10.9 to 22.5%, of handwashing facilities from 43 to 60.1% of schools with an average number of handwashing facilities from one to two, and the prevalence of school WASH brigades from 4.8 to 11.8% of schools. There was also a significant increase in schools receiving funds, and other support for WASH, respectively, from 24.9 to 70.3%, and from 17 to 45.9%, while the proportion of adolescent girl students washing their hands after using the toilet and before eating significantly increased from 6 to 28.4%. However, to improve the current WASH picture, and succeed in curtailing the spread of COVID-19 and related impacts, additional efforts to enhance handwashing practice and WASH items’ coverage are expected

 

Le sam. 4 mars 2023 à 07:58, Eric Mafuta <ericmafuta2@gmail.com> a écrit :

Impact of a free care policy on routine health service volumes during a protracted Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo

, ,

a
Department of International Health and Sustainable Development, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St. Suite 2200, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
b
University of Kinshasa School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kinshasa, Congo

Received 8 March 2022, Revised 2 February 2023, Accepted 28 February 2023, Available online 1 March 2023.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953623001727?utm_campaign=STMJ_AUTH_SERV_PUBLISHED&utm_medium=email&utm_acid=109861485&SIS_ID=&dgcid=STMJ_AUTH_SERV_PUBLISHED&CMX_ID=&utm_in=DM345715&utm_source=AC_

Abstract

Background

In response to the DRC’s 10th Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak, the government subsidized routine health services in select health zones with the goal of maintaining routine service volumes. We assess the impact of the initial and revised Free Care Policies (FCP) on total clinic visits, uncomplicated malaria, simple pneumonia, fourth antenatal care clinic visits, and measles vaccinations, testing the hypothesis that routine services would not significantly decrease during the FCP.

Methods and findings

We used data from the DRC’s national health information system spanning January 2017 to November 2020. Intervention facilities were those that were initially and secondarily enrolled in the FCP, which occurred in August 2018 and November 2018, respectively. Comparison facilities were limited to the North Kivu Province and were from health zones that recorded at least one case of Ebola. A controlled interrupted time series analysis was conducted. The FCP appeared to have a positive effect in increasing overall clinic attendance rates, uncomplicated malaria case rates, and simple pneumonia case rates in those health zones where the policy was enacted relative to comparison sites. The longer-term effects of the FCP were mostly non-significant or, if significant, relatively modest in nature. Rates for measles vaccinations and fourth ANC clinic visits appeared to be unaffected or minimally affected, respectively, by the implementation of the FCP and relative to comparison sites. We did not observe the decrease in measles vaccinations that has been observed elsewhere. The study is limited in that we were unable to account for health facility bypassing and service volumes at private health facilities.

Conclusions

Our findings provide evidence that FCPs can be used to maintain routine service provision during outbreaks. Additionally, the study design demonstrates that routinely reported health information from the DRC are sensitive enough to detect changes in health policy.

Keywords

Demand for health care
Finance
Funding
Budgeting
Health economics
Health policy and planning
Infectious diseases/communicable diseases
Primary care
Time series analysis
Democratic Republic of the Congo