Infection Prevention and Control Practices of Public and Private Health Facilities in Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: Adherence to Infection prevention and control standard practice protocol is critical in minimizing the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers. With the increasing trend of nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 among healthcare workers during the pandemic in Nigeria, we assessed the status of IPC in facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted from March to April 2020 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. A semi-structured interviewer administered checklist adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO) IPC scorecard for health facilities was used. IPC focal persons for each health facility visited were interviewed on the twelve IPC domains. Data was analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant for all statistical tests. Result: Four hundred fifty-eight facilities took part in the study. The majority of the facilities 320 (69.9%) were public/government owned, with more than half 315 (68.8%) being secondary health facilities. The overall IPC status was good in 408 (89.0%) of the health institutions. However, there was a statistically significant difference in IPC practices between private and public facilities in the majority of IPC domains: Functional IPC Committee (p0.001), facility triaging (p0.001), temporary holding area (THA) (P0.001), PPE (P0.001), Waste disposal (p=0.023), hospital sterilization (p=0.008), and hospital decontamination (p=0.004). Conclusion: The study found a satisfactory level of IPC protocol operationalization status in mostly public health facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Nevertheless, there is a need for interventions targeting mostly private health facilities to address the disparity and gaps identified in IPC practices.