Assessment of Health Workers’ Awareness of Infection Prevention and Control Preparedness Levels in Isolation Centers and Secondary Hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria

Several medical models have consistently shown that infectious diseases will continuously evade the human race. With the recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria and beyond, there is the need for every nation to upscale their level of preparedness. It is against this backdrop that this paper sought to assess level of health workers’ awareness of Infection Prevention and Control Preparedness levels in the Isolation centers and secondary hospitals. A mixed method research design was utilized. The study made use of questionnaires and Key Informant Interviews as the main sources of data collection. The study found out that 42% of the facilities were found to be at “basic readiness level”, another 41% of the facilities whose healthcare workers were found to be at “intermediate readiness level, while the remaining 16% facilities were at “advanced readiness level of awareness of Infection Prevention and Control preparedness. Furthermore, the study also confirmed that appropriate practices of COVID-19 preventive measures impact positively on the control and spread of COVID -19. The results also indicated that there were gaps in the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). The study recommends amongst others that Infection, Prevention and Control team and other stakeholders should have the capacity and knowledge to deal with infectious diseases.