By Awa Macalo
National Population Commission secretariat under the ffice of the vice president has launched a nationwide report on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards Covid-19 in The Gambia.
The launch was held on Tuesday at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara conference hall in Bijilo.
The study was conducted in partnership with the Gambia Bureau of Statistics, the University of The Gambia and A&T Consulting Ltd.
Its purpose was to appraise people’s knowledge about COVID-19, their mind-set towards the disease and practices during the course of the pandemic. It also intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the various communication channels (medium/source) used and messages disseminated in the fight against COVID-19 and assessed peoples’ perceptions of what government can do to help enforce the state of public health emergency regulations.
Mariama Fanneh, director of population affairs in the national population commission secretariat, said the study was successful due to the cooperation and collaboration of both private and public support. She explained that the study has brought together critical stakeholders in the rime of research and development in the Gambia aimed to assess people’s knowledge towards the deadly virus.
“…In a view to identify the knowledge gaps, beliefs and behavioral patterns that might identify needs, problems and barriers to the adherence of the Ministry of Health and the WHO recommendations,” she said.
The WHO country representative, Dr Desta Tiruneh in his statement, said that the study is an important initiative as it has highlighted people’s awareness towards the virus. He also urged Gambians to still adhere to the precautionary measures and believe in the existence of the virus since that’s the only way to fight against it.
The health minister, Ahmadou Lamin Samateh said the virus has been unprecedented since its inception in the country, but the setting of the Covid-19 subcommittee meant to at least halt its spread had made its fight easier. He also recognized the significance of the virus in our day to day lives. “The pandemic is still on and we need to have regular KAP studies to see whether what we talk of previous months ago is still valid, whether people have changed behavior towards the virus,” he said.
The Minister of Children and Social Welfare, Fatou Kinteh, commended the National Population Commission Secretariat for conducting the first KAP study in the country.
“Covid-19 outbreak is affecting societies around the world in an unprecedented manner. However, not everyone, in every place is affected in the same way. Covid-19 affected the lives and livelihood of the most vulnerable groups who play a vital role in the societies across the globe exposing them to many socio-economic problems. The role of women as caregivers in households and communities, places them at a privileged position in communication and prevention efforts. Keeping the gender implications of Covid-19 in-sight can therefore allow for more effective responses and actions,” she explained.
The vice president, Dr Isatou Touray, said the study looked at the effectiveness of the state of the public health emergency regulations in curbing the spread of the virus. “Consequently, this report extensively evaluated the effectiveness of crosscutting evidence-based intervention mechanisms that are critical in our continued fight against this deadly virus.”
She anticipated that the result of this KAP survey commissioned by her office will provide valuable information not only for evidence-based Covid-19 related interventions in The Gambia, but will as well serve as a reference material in future epidemics and pandemics in The Gambia and abroad.
