Abstract:
As coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continue
to increase in Africa, healthcare workers (HCWs)
have a high risk of being infected and the risks may
be higher among those who work closely with
patients. The risks of HCW infections can be
mitigated with adequate precautions within
healthcare facilities, especially with the use of
personal protective equipment (PPE). We highlight
and contextualise the findings of a Cochrane
review on the type of PPE that protects best, the
best way to put PPE on (donning) or to remove PPE
(doffing) and how to train HCWs to use PPE. The
review found low-certainty of evidence that full
body PPE offer more protection, but HCWs may be
faced with difficulty during donning and doffing.
Following standard guidelines may be helpful in
reducing infection and increasing compliance
among HCWs. Video training and simulations may
be better methods for training on the correct use of PPE than traditional methods of teaching.
Countries must, therefore, ensure that HCWs
undergo compulsory training on the correct use of
PPE; regardless of their professional category. Of
the 24 studies included in this review, none was
conducted on the African continent. There is thus
an urgent need for well conducted studies on the
experiences of HCWs using full-body covering PPE
within the African context. Such studies could lead
to tailored interventions that will improve the
proper use of PPE among HCWs.
