Public Perception and Preparedness to Fight Against the Third Wave of Covid-19 in Kabul, Afghanistan

Bibliographic Data

ID13775869
AuthorsArash Nemat (0000-0002-7044-5473, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, corresponding author), Farah Yasmin (0000-0002-5264-6140, Dow Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan), Mohammad Yasir Essar (0000-0002-6554-7619, Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan), Nahid Raufi (Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan), Shoaib Ahmad (0000-0002-7241-7724, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Pakistan), Abdullah Asady (0000-0001-9775-739X, Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan), Qingchun Zeng (0000-0001-7665-8237, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume59
Pages469580221117743-469580221117743
Publication date2022-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueINQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0046-9580 • E-ISSN: 1945-7243
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00469580221117743
PMID35938197
OpenAlexW4290609111
LanguageEN
References cited24

The avalanche of Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) cases has placed an unprecedented load on Afghanistan's government and public health authorities, putting the country in jeopardy. The primary goal of this research was to shed light on the country's capital, Kabul, and to examine the existing preparedness and perceptions of its population in the midst of COVID-19's third wave, which could result in decentralization and fragmentation of the already overburdened health-care system. An online, cross-sectional survey was conducted by the lecturers of the Kabul University of Medical Sciences between April 15, 2021 and April 25, 2021, to evaluate the preparedness of the Kabul citizens amidst the third wave of COVID-19. About 1736 citizens from Kabul participated in the survey. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. All categorical variables were reported using frequencies and percentages. The findings revealed that the most common source of COVID-19-related information was social media (74.8%). In addition, 34.4% of subjects had previously been infected with COVID-19. It was reassuring to see that 78.4% of residents said they knew more about COVID-19 than they did about prior COVID-19 waves. A majority (81.5%) expressed willingness to resist the third wave, but 89.4% said that the country's government would be unable to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine within the next 6 months. The findings of this present study indicates that citizens of Kabul are active in obtaining accurate information and disseminating it in the community. The citizens also reported sufficient COVID-19 related knowledge; however, they were more motivated to fight against the third wave of COVID-19. In regards to vaccination, they believed that the government could not vaccinate the public anytime soon. Hence, the enactment of non-pharmaceutical measures is important in the fight against the pandemic

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Environmental health · Government (linguistics · Political science · Population · Preparedness · Public health · Social media · Sociology · Third wave · Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

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