Assessment of Households' Willingness to Join and Pay for Improving Waste Management Practices in Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Background: Waste management has become a serious challenge in urban areas of developing countries. However, managing municipal solid waste generated is the most costly urban service and needs community engagement in management of municipal solid wastes. Therefore, this study determined willingness to join and pay for improving solid waste management services and associated factors among households of Gedeo zone, Southern Ethiopia. Method: We performed a community-based cross-sectional study design to assess willingness to join and pay for improved solid waste management and its predictors among residents in Gedeo zone, Southern Ethiopia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was computed to identify the factors associated with willingness to join and pay for improved solid waste management services. An adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to report an association, and a p < 0.05 was used to declare a statistically significant association. Result: Of 552 study participants, 91.5% (95% CI: 89.2, 93.8) were willing to join and 86.3% (95% CI: 83.3, 89.4) of them were willing to pay for improving solid waste management services. Having a large family size, higher educational status, positive attitude, and good knowledge of waste management services, access to waste management services, and amount of waste generated per week were positively associated with willingness to support improved solid waste management services. In addition, we found that respondents with high educational status, monthly income, who had good knowledge of waste management, access to waste management services, and the amount of waste generated per week were significant predictors of willingness to pay for improved solid waste management. Conclusion: This study found that a significant number of the respondents were willing to support and pay for improved solid waste management services. A higher probability of willingness to support and pay for solid waste management services among residents who had access to waste management services and good knowledge of solid waste management was observed. Therefore, wide-range awareness creation through mini media should be used to address poor knowledge. In addition, establishing more temporary waste collection sites in every corner of cities is needed to encourage households to support and pay for improved solid waste management services.

Assessment of Microbiological Quality of Indoor Air at Different Hospital Sites of Dilla University: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: In both residential and hospital indoor environments, humans can be exposed to airborne microorganisms. The hospital's indoor air may contain a large number of disease-causing agents brought in by patients, staff, students, visitors, ventilation, or the outside. Hospitalized patients are at a higher risk of infection due to confined spaces, crowdedness, and poor infection prevention practices, which can accumulate and create favorable conditions for the growth and multiplication of microorganisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the indoor air bacterial load in Dilla University Hospital, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used to assess the bacterial load in the indoor air at Dilla University Hospital. To determine the bacterial load, a passive air sampling technique was used. The settle plate method was used to collect data, which involved exposing Petri-dishes filled with blood agar media to the indoor air of the sampled rooms for 60 minutes. Result: A total of 72 indoor air samples were collected once a week for 2 weeks at 14-day intervals from 18 rooms in 8 wards, and samples were collected twice a day in the morning and afternoon. The mean bacterial concentrations ranged from 450 to 1585.83 CFU/m3 after 60 minutes of culture media exposure. The mean bacterial concentrations in the obstetrics, surgical, pediatric, gynecology, and medical wards exceeded WHO guidelines. A high indoor air bacterial load was found in 58 (80.6%) of the samples in this study. Gram-positive bacteria in the air were the most common 51 (71%) of the bacterial population measured in all indoor environments. Fungal growth was found in 65 (90.3%) of the samples. Temperatures (26.5°C-28.3°C) and relative humidity (61.1%-67.8%) in the rooms were both above WHO guidelines, creating favorable conditions for bacterial growth and multiplication. Conclusion: The majority of the wards at Dilla University Hospital had bacterial loads in the air that exceeded WHO guidelines. Overcrowding, high temperatures, inadequate ventilation, improper waste management, and a lack of traffic flow control mechanisms could all contribute to a high concentration of bacteria in the indoor air. To control the introduction of microorganisms by patients, students, caregivers, and visitors, it is critical to regularly monitor indoor air bacterial load and implement infection prevention and control measures.

Assessment of practice of Covid-19 preventive measures and associated factors among residents in Southern, Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus (Covid-19) is a respiratory disease mostly affecting old aged and those with comorbidities. Due to resource constraints in developing countries, control of Covid-19 was based on preventive measures. However, there is variation in adherence to these precautionary measures from place to place among communities. Therefore, this study assessed the practice of Covid-19 preventive measures and associated factors among residents of Southern, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was employed on residents of Southern, Ethiopia. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data from households through systematic random sampling methods. Data was entered, coded, and analyzed using STATA version 16. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between outcome variables and predictor variables. Finally, the interpretation of Adjusted Odds ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) and p-value was done for statistically significant factors of Covid-19 preventive measures practice. RESULTS: The proportion of residents who had good practice of Covid-19 preventive measures was 31.3% (95% CI: 26.5, 36.1). Out of 364 residents, 264 (72.5%) used facemasks, 218 (59.9%) washed their hands frequently, 167 (45.9%) practiced social distancing, 135 (37.1%) stayed at home, 75 (18.1%) avoided handshaking and 228 (62.6%) used hand sanitizer. Following government directions (AOR = 225; 95% CI: 68.6, 738), good knowledge about Covid-19 (AOR = 3.47; 95% CI: 1.12, 10.73), having access to water supply (AOR = 2.92; 95% CI: 1.05, 8.18), belief towards protectiveness of preventive measure (AOR = 3.53; 95% CI: 1.08, 11.61) and chronic illness (AOR = 5.09; 95% CI: 1.44, 17.96) were significantly associated with practice of Covid-19 preventive measures. CONCLUSION: In this study, the proportion of residents practicing Covid-19 preventive measures was low. Having comorbidity, following government directions, knowledge about Covid-19 and access to water supply were significantly associated with Covid-19 preventive measures practice. Therefore, government and all concerned stakeholders should increase the accessibility of infrastructure and provide continuous awareness creation campaigns regarding Covid-19 mode of transmission, sign and symptom, and protectiveness of Covid-19 preventive measures. Moreover, dissemination of teaching aids using local languages and close monitoring of community compliance to Covid-19 preventive measures is crucial.