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IntroductionThe WHO has proposed the concept of mobile health (mHealth) to support healthcare systems delivery worldwide. mHealth basically involves the use of Information and Communication Technology for healthcare provision or delivery services. Africa has seen a remarkable increase in mobile phone availability and usage in the last decade. The incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Africa have also been on the increase in the last decade, in sharp contrast to an ailing healthcare system. We aim to review the extent of implementation of mHealth in the management of DM in Africa, and estimate its impact in helping patients achieve desired glycaemic target, sustain control and prevent complications in the past decade.Methods and analysisStudies assessing the utilisation of mhealth in the management of patients with DM in Africa will be considered based on the PICO method: Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcomes. Medline, PubMed, SCOPUS and the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry, among others will be searched. Two authors independent of each other shall screen titles and abstracts retrieved using the search strategy, retrieve the full text articles and assess them for eligibility and extract data. A third reviewing author will be brought in to resolve any disagreement between the two authors by discussion. The ‘Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool’ will be used to assess the quality of included studies. A narrative synthesis of extracted data and, where the characteristics of the eligible studies permit, a meta-analysis (which will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines) will be done.Ethics and disseminationNo ethical approval will be required since only published data will be used. Dissemination of results will be through peer reviewed publication and conference presentation.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42021218674.

The COVID19 pandemic has caused widespread global devastation with over 11 million infections and 534,000 deaths recorded at the end of June 2020. Measures such as physical distancing and regular hand hygiene are effective in controlling the disease, though compliance varies. This study aimed to determine the frequency of hand hygiene compliance, identify reasons for non-compliance as well as significant associations of hand hygiene performance, type and duration. Visitors to two landmark sites in Uyo—southern Nigeria, (a tertiary hospital and a popular mall) were observed for hand hygiene compliance. The type and duration of hand hygiene was also assessed. A subset of the participants was subsequently invited to participate in an interviewer-administered survey comprising questions on hand hygiene frequency, type, duration and reasons for non-compliance. Ethical approval was obtained for the study. A total of 490 subjects were observed from both sites (280 from the mall and 210 from the hospital), while 155, comprising 52.9% females and 47.1% males, with a mean age of 32.3 ± 11.2 years completed the survey. Although almost all patients (94.2%) considered hand hygiene a necessity, most (65.2%) forgot to wash their hands. Majority of the participants (74.3%) performed hand hygiene, while using soap and running water was the preferred method in majority (80.6%). Age and location were significantly associated with hand hygiene performance, type and duration Over 70% of adult residents in Uyo performed hand-hygiene though infrequently. Forgetfulness was the most common reason for non-compliance. Public education and compulsion at public places are key strategies in improving hand hygiene compliance.

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