Background Healthcare workers are usually the first responders during outbreaks and are instrumental in educating the populace about the prevention of different diseases and illnesses. The aim of this study was to assess the association between healthcare workers’ characteristics and knowledge, attitudes and practices toward Zika virus. Methods This was a cross-sectional study that collected data from healthcare workers at 3 medical facilities using a validated self-administered questionnaire between July 2017 – September 2017. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between sociodemographic and knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Results A total of 190 healthcare workers were analyzed. Of these, 60, 72.6 and 64.7% had good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices toward Zika virus, respectively. Healthcare workers without a formal degree were less likely to have good knowledge of Zika virus (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0:49; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.24–0.99) compared to those with a formal degree. Reduced odds for positive attitude towards Zika virus were observed in healthcare workers with low income as compared to those with high income (AOR = 0.31; 95% CI =0.13–0.75). Being younger than 40 years old was associated with poor Zika virus practices (AOR = 0:34; 95% CI = 0.15–0.79). Conclusions Significant association between healthcare workers’ sociodemographic characteristics and Zika virus knowledge, attitudes and practices were observed. Public health interventions that seek to increase Zika virus awareness should aim to train healthcare workers who are younger, without formal degree and those earning low income.

Background: Tobacco is the foremost preventable cause of death and disease in the world today, killing half of the people who use it. In the south-east Asia Region (SEAR), smoking prevalence ranges from 29.8% to 63.1% among men and 0.4%–15% among women. The practice of tobacco needs attention. World No Tobacco Day is the event dedicated to call attention toward the impact of tobacco use on public health and reduce individual tobacco dependence. The day is further intended to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects. Aim: · To assess the effectiveness of street play in creating awareness of tobacco hazards among rural population of Chennai.⋅ To evaluate the knowledge gained by the rural population about tobacco hazards from street play using a closed ended questionnaire. Methods: The study was a cross sectional and community based study. The target population for this study was the outpatients attending Tagore Medical and Dental Hospitals, Rathinamangalam, Chennai. The current study was conducted between 19th May 2017 to 26th May 2017, among the outpatients attending Tagore Medical and Dental Hospitals, Rathinamangalam, Chennai. Mainly, the awareness is created by stressing the ill effects and illicit use of any form of tobacco through street play conducted daily for a week in the hospital premises. Result: The preintervention assessment revealed poor knowledge scores on various aspect of harmful effects of tobacco, which significantly improved after intervention. It is conceptual that rural population is not aware of passive smoking or second hand smoke, but our study group accounted to 86% of awareness. Feedback received after street play: after any street play or role play it's good to have feedback from community members to know how effective our play was in spreading the message among them. We were fortunate enough to get good response from community members post play. Overall the feedback of the street play excelled with a score of 96% gaining new knowledge about tobacco hazards, enlightening the thought process in this regard. Conclusion: As a result, the street play in local language and pictorial posters proved to be an effective health educational tool among illiterates and repeated use, before the transition season, for maximum impact.

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