Background: Even though evidence shows that access to and use of improved latrines is related to healthful families and the public, obstacles to the adoption and use of improved latrine facilities remain. Globally, not many inquiries appear to have been carried out to satisfactorily inform us regarding the multi-level barriers influencing the adoption and utilization of improved latrines facilities. Related studies in Ethiopia are even fewer. Methods: Two qualitative data gathering methods, viz., key informant interviews and focus group discussions, were employed to collect data for this study. A total of fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with members of the community in the rural Wonago district of Ethiopia. Similarly, ten key informant interviews were conducted with water, sanitation, and hygiene officers, and health extension workers responsible for coordinating sanitation and hygiene activities. Open code software 4.03 was used for thematic analysis. Result: Barriers to adoption and use of improved latrine facilities were categorized into Contextual factors (e.g. Gender, educational status, personal preference for using the field, limited space, population density, the status of land ownership), Psychosocial factors (Culture, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of minimal health threat from children's feces), and Technological factors (inconveniences in acquiring materials and cost of constructing a latrine). Conclusion: There are a series of multi-leveled barriers to the sustained adoption and use of latrines. Providing funding opportunities for the underprivileged and offering training on the engineering skills of latrine construction at the community level based on the contextual soil circumstances could expand the latrine coverage and use. Similarly, taking into account the variability in motivations for adopting and using latrines among our study in Ethiopia and other studies, we implore public health experts to recognize behaviors and norms in their target communities in advance of implementing sanitation interventions.

Hand hygiene is the most effective and feasible infection prevention and control measure within the healthcare facilities. Despite the ease and simplicity of the technique, the adherence rate among health professionals remains suboptimal. Hence, developing targeted interventions to improve adherence requires a clear understanding of these obstacles. Therefore, this systematic reviews of existing literature aims to fully understand the context specific barriers of hand hygiene to answer why barriers persisted despite the interventions to maintaining hand hygiene practices among healthcare providers. This systematic review was conducted to synthesize existing evidence according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) qualitative studies review methodology on qualitative studies publish between the year 2010 and 2024. The study is reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guideline (PRISMA) and the protocol for the study was published on PROSPERO (CRD42024573753) before commencing the study. The review included twenty eight studies that are conducted in different regions of the world representing six of the continents. The study identified four interconnected themes of barriers with many subthemes. Behavioural barriers and organizational barriers were the most highlighted themes within the review. Physical barriers were one of the significant themes, where unavailability and inconvenience of hand hygiene resources gain the most attention by study participants across the studies. The fourth theme was societal/interpersonal barriers characterized by negative social influence and unsupportive colleagues. The study highlights that the barriers to hand hygiene adherence among healthcare professionals are intertwined and complex, with the main interplaying among behavioural, societal/interpersonal, physical, and organizational barriers. The findings underscore that the intertwined nature of these barriers requires a multifaceted approach involving the relevant stakeholders to improve hand hygiene adherence among healthcare providers.

Background: In both residential and hospital indoor environments, humans can be exposed to airborne microorganisms. The hospital’s indoor air may contain a large number of disease-causing agents brought in by patients, staff, students, visitors, ventilation, or the outside. Hospitalized patients are at a higher risk of infection due to confined spaces, crowdedness, and poor infection prevention practices, which can accumulate and create favorable conditions for the growth and multiplication of microorganisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the indoor air bacterial load in Dilla University Hospital, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used to assess the bacterial load in the indoor air at Dilla University Hospital. To determine the bacterial load, a passive air sampling technique was used. The settle plate method was used to collect data, which involved exposing Petri-dishes filled with blood agar media to the indoor air of the sampled rooms for 60 minutes. Result: A total of 72 indoor air samples were collected once a week for 2 weeks at 14-day intervals from 18 rooms in 8 wards, and samples were collected twice a day in the morning and afternoon. The mean bacterial concentrations ranged from 450 to 1585.83 CFU/m³ after 60 minutes of culture media exposure. The mean bacterial concentrations in the obstetrics, surgical, pediatric, gynecology, and medical wards exceeded WHO guidelines. A high indoor air bacterial load was found in 58 (80.6%) of the samples in this study. Gram-positive bacteria in the air were the most common 51 (71%) of the bacterial population measured in all indoor environments. Fungal growth was found in 65 (90.3%) of the samples. Temperatures (26.5°C-28.3°C) and relative humidity (61.1%-67.8%) in the rooms were both above WHO guidelines, creating favorable conditions for bacterial growth and multiplication. Conclusion: The majority of the wards at Dilla University Hospital had bacterial loads in the air that exceeded WHO guidelines. Overcrowding, high temperatures, inadequate ventilation, improper waste management, and a lack of traffic flow control mechanisms could all contribute to a high concentration of bacteria in the indoor air. To control the introduction of microorganisms by patients, students, caregivers, and visitors, it is critical to regularly monitor indoor air bacterial load and implement infection prevention and control measures.

Background: Improved sanitation facilities offer numerous advantages, ranging from the reduction of diarrheal illnesses and helminth infections to the improvement of psychosocial well-being. At the household level, attaining universal access to improved sanitation facilities demands a thorough understanding of the factors that influence their adoption and use. As a result, the purpose of this study was to assess the availability and utilization of improved sanitation facilities, as well as the factors that influence the adoption and proper use of such a facility among households in the Gedeb district of Southern Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional household survey was conducted from March to April 2019. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 630 households at random. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the respondents’ self-reported data, which comprised socio-demographic, home characteristics, behavioral, and environmental elements. The factors related to the availability and utilization of improved sanitation facilities were identified using multivariable logistic regression. Result: Improved sanitation facilities were present in 172 (27.3%) of the 630 households surveyed, with 111 (64.5%) of them being used properly. The availability of improved sanitation was associated with educational status [AOR = 2.73, 95% CI (1.59, 4.67)], upper wealth quintile [AOR = 2.18, 95% CI (1.21, 3.93)], ever hearing educational messages about latrines [AOR = 3.9, 95% CI (1.86, 8.18)], favorable attitude toward latrine construction [AOR = 2.81, 95% CI (1.67, 4.74)], and receiving support during construction [AOR = 3.78, 95% CI (2.15, 6.65)]. Furthermore, utilization was associated with the absence of children under the age of 5, knowledge of sanitation-related diseases, and a positive attitude toward latrine use. Conclusion: Both the availability of improved sanitation facilities and the rate at which they were used properly fell far short of the National Hygiene and Environmental Health Strategy’s goals. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on how to improve the availability of improved sanitation in Ethiopia.

Background: In terms of global impact, foodborne infections have been likened to major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, with 1 in 10 people becoming ill and 420,000 deaths per year. A large number of these incidents are caused by improperly handled food in foodservice establishments. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to estimate the proportion of food handlers in Ethiopian commercial food service establishments who have safe food handling practices and their associated factors. Methods: Studies conducted before 02-05-2022 were explored in PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and Ovid MEDLINE^®, as well as other sources. A total of fourteen studies were included in the final synthesis. Data were extracted using a standardized data extraction format prepared in Microsoft excel and the analysis was done using STATA 16 statistical software. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute’s Critical assessment checklist for prevalence studies. To evaluate publication bias, a funnel plot and Egger’s regression test were employed. The I² statistic was calculated to examine for study heterogeneity. To assess the pooled effect size, odds ratios, and 95% confidence intervals across studies, the DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was used. Subgroup analysis was conducted by region and publication year. The influence of a single study on the whole estimate was determined via sensitivity analysis. Results: Of 323 identified articles, 14 studies were eligible for analysis (n = 4849 participants). The pooled prevalence estimate of safe food handling practices among Ethiopian food handlers was 47.14% (95% CI: 39.01–55.26, I² = 97.23%). Foodservice training (OR, 3.89; 95% CI: 2.37–5.40), having on-site water storage facilities (OR, 4.65; 95% CI: 2.35–6.95), attitude (OR, 4.89; 95% CI: 1.39–8.29), hygiene and sanitary inspection certification (OR, 3.08; 95% CI: 1.62–4.45) were significantly associated with safe food handling practice among food handlers. Conclusion: This review identified that improvements are needed in food handling training, government regulation, and infrastructure. Standard regulations for food service enterprises must be implemented on a local and national level. Though long-term food safety requires legislation and training, failure to address infrastructure challenges can harm public health efforts. Access to safe drinking water and the presence of sanitary waste management systems should all be part of the basic infrastructure for ensuring the safety of food in food businesses.

Background: Patient safety culture is now at the forefront of the global health agenda and has been designated as a human right. Assessing safety culture is seen to be a prerequisite for improving safety culture in health-care organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the current study setup. Therefore, this study aims at assessing the status and factors influencing patient safety culture at Dilla University Teaching Hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional institutional-based study was conducted from February to March 2022 at Dilla University Hospital. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 272 health professionals were included in the survey. The qualitative data was collected using Key Informant Interviews and In-depth Interviews and 10 health professionals were selected purposively to meet the study objective. Results: The overall composite positive patient safety culture response rate in the current study hospital was 37% (95% CI: 35.3, 38.8). Out of the 12 dimensions, teamwork within hospital units was the highest (75.3%), while frequency of event reporting was the lowest (20.7%) positive percentage response. Only two of the 12 dimensions scored above 50%. Factors affecting patient safety culture majorly at organizational and individual level were poor/low attitude of health professionals, poor documentation practice, and poor cooperation by clients, lack of training and continuous education, lack of standard operating procedure, Staff shortage and high work load. Conclusion: This study revealed that the overall composite positive patient safety culture response rate within the surveyed facility was alarmingly low compared to other hospitals in various countries. The results indicate that there is a need for improvement in areas such as event reporting, documentation, health-care workers’ attitude, and staff training. Hospitals must prioritize patient safety by cultivating a strong safety culture through effective leadership, adequate staffing, and education to enhance overall patient care.