Alice Bila

Background: The population’s adherence to public health recommendations depends on many individual and collective cultural, socioeconomic, institutional, and environmental factors and the perception of the risks involved. This study aimed to describe and analyze the perception of risk related to coronavirus in the general population. Methods: A qualitative, exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. It involved the general population (youth and adults, men and women, traditional practitioners, religious leaders, and opinion leaders). The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Results: Respondents perceived COVID-19 as deadly, dangerous, and highly contagious. It emerged that respondents perceived themselves to be at risk of being infected by the virus. This risk exposure is linked to several factors. These include the dangerousness of the disease contaminated by direct contact, the feeling of vulnerability linked to working conditions (traders, exposing themselves and others to the disease), status (elderly, and sick,), gender (mobility of men compared to women), and the risk relationship (the individual perceived as being a potential danger to his family/relatives). Vulnerability depended on the immune status of the people (elderly people, pregnant women, and people with chronic diseases), working conditions (shopkeepers, and traders), and also socioeconomic categories (wealthy people). Conclusion: Policymakers and actors in the response to COVID-19 should develop communication strategies to better address ongoing challenges.

Since 2014, the Burkina Faso government has made Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) a priority in its strategic plan to fight against malaria among children aged from 3 to 59 months. Very few studies have examined the care provided by community health workers in the framework of this strategy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of quality of care provided by the latter. This was a mixed study. The quantitative component consisted of a non-participant observation of community health workers during the administration of care. The qualitative component consisted of one-on-one interviews with community health workers, child caregivers and head nurses. Five dimensions (organizational accessibility, interpersonal relationship, technical competence, safety of care and satisfaction of child caregivers) adapted from the Donabedian quality of care model were used to assess the quality level of care. The Corlien et al. Health Systems Research Program Implementation Scale was used to establish quality scores for each of the five dimensions. The study sites were the health centers located in the administrative centers of the 4 communes of the health district of Boulsa. The data were collected during the first cycle of the 2017 SMC campaign. A total of 14 active pairs (28 CHWs) were observed and 40 in-depth interviews with community health workers, Head nurses in duty and community leaders were conducted. The results show that community health workers worked in pairs. They had all received SMC training and possessed equipment to do their job. The dimensions of organizational accessibility and satisfaction of the caregivers were rated as good. The dimensions of interpersonal relationship and technical competence were judged to be of an acceptable score. Safety of care was judged to be of a low-level score. The overall quality of care was considered acceptable. The results of this study have shown that despite the difficulties faced by community health workers, they manage to deliver acceptable quality of care. Their use would be an asset for SMC in particular and for the health system in general.