Abstracts Health Sciences

Emergency preparedness for communicable diseases in public hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis

by Delphine Gborgblorvor

The global threat of communicable diseases and its world implications cannot be over emphasized. Its effects on lives of citizens exacerbate social and political instability in affected counties and regions. Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death and account for a quarter of the estimated 54 million deaths worldwide in 2012.The potential for disasters to occur exists in all communities. In the light of aforementioned the health sector should always anticipate disaster and disease outbreaks and put in prevention and preparatory measures in place so as to reduce the impact of such occurrences. This study was conducted to describe the emergency preparedness of public hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis for Communicable diseases. A cross- sectional descriptive study was conducted using stratified random sampling methods. Five hundred (500) participants were enrolled in the study, from the five public hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis. These facilities were Tafo Government Hospital (TGH), Manhyia Government Hospital (MGH), Kumasi South Hospital (KSH), Suntreso Government Hospital (SGH) and Maternal and Child Health Hospital (MCHH). A total of four hundred and eight (408) clinical care health workers and management team members responded. Self-administered structured questionnaire which reflected the objectives of the study were administered. Results of the study reveals that the knowledge of health workers on communicable disease was very good (96.11%), the practice of management of communicable disease was also good (85%) however the knowledge on emergency preparedness for communicable diseases was low as only (27.1%) of the respondents were aware of it and there were no emergency preparedness plan in the facilities. There were no emergency preparedness teams for communicable diseases and no structures in place for managing such cases. Management of the Kumasi Metropolitan Health Directorate should organize top up training on management of communicable diseases was recommended to enhance the knowledge and skills of health workers to management such cases, structures should be put in place in addressing communicable disease issues, and emergency preparedness plans should be drawn with involvement from all stakeholders to ensure its utilizations. In conclusion the emergency preparedness of public health facilities in the Kumasi Metropolis for communicable diseases was not adequate. A thesis submitted to the Department of Health Policy, Management and Economics, College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Public Health in Health Service Planning and Management June, 2016 KNUST