"I don't want to have anything to do with someone suspected of COVID-19": a genuine infection avoidance interest or inappropriate concerns related to stigma?
J Public Health Afr
; 14(1): 2099, 2023 Jan 27.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36798844
ABSTRACT
Background:
Human existence is being challenged by an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 that began in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Efforts to avoid the spread of COVID-19 are undermined by the appearance of disease-associated avoidance of infected persons due to reasons such as social stigma and discrimination.Objective:
This study seeks to investigate avoidance and discrimination against persons suspected of COVID-19 to help fight the pandemic in a predominantly rural setting in Ghana. Materials andMethods:
The study is a cross sectional survey. A random sample of 517 individuals drawn from a health and demographic surveillance system database was used for this study. Participants resided in six contiguous districts and municipalities of predominantly rural setting in the Bono East Region of Ghana.Results:
The findings showed that majority (60%) of the respondents agreed that they won't have anything to do with someone suspected of COVID-19. However, 67% of them were willing to accommodate persons that recovered from the infection. The majority (91%) of respondents agreed that there is a need to adopt tolerant attitude towards persons who recovered from the infection, whilst another 98% also reported the need to show compassion towards persons who recovered from COVID-19.Conclusions:
There is the need to pay special attention to avoidance of suspected infected persons due to stigma or any other reason since it is a threat to the fight against the pandemic.
Texto completo:
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Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudio:
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Public Health Afr
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Ghana