Community Perceptions on Integrating Animal Vaccination and Health Education by Veterinary and Public Health Workers in the Prevention of Brucellosis among Pastoral Communities of South Western Uganda

Abstract

BackgroundBrucellosis is a zoonotic disease of veterinary, public health, and economic significance in most developing countries, yet there are few studies that show integrated human and veterinary health care intervention focusing on integration at both activity and actors levels. The aim of our study, therefore, was to explore community perceptions on integration of animal vaccination and health education by veterinary and public health workers in the management of brucellosis in Uganda.MethodsThis study used a qualitative design where six Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) that were homogenous in nature were conducted, two from each sub-county, one with the local leaders, and another with pastoralists and farmers. Five Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with two public health workers and three veterinary extension workers from three sub-counties in Kiruhura district, Uganda were conducted. All FGDs were conducted in the local language and tape recorded with consent from the participants. KIIs were in English and later transcribed and analyzed using latent content data analysis method.ResultsAll the groups mentioned that they lacked awareness on brucellosis commonly known as Brucella and its vaccination in animals. Respondents perceived improvement in human resources in terms of training and recruiting more health personnel, facilitation of the necessary activities such as sensitization of the communities about brucellosis, and provision of vaccines and diagnostic tests as very important in the integration process in the communities. The FGD participants also believed that community participation was crucial for sustainability and ownership of the integration process.ConclusionsThe respondents reported limited knowledge of brucellosis and its vaccination in animals. The community members believed that mass animal vaccination in combination with health education about the disease is important and possible if it involves government and all other stakeholders such as wildlife authorities, community members, local to national political leaders, as well as the technical personnel from veterinary, medical and public health sectors since it affects both humans and animals.

A One Health framework for integrated service delivery in Turkana County, Kenya

“…This approach was highly regarded among the community and saved costs and time (Lankester et al 2019). In Uganda, the integration of vaccination and health education to combat brucellosis was perceived by pastoralists and health service providers as feasible and desirable (Kansiime et al 2015). In addition, mobile clinics are a more suitable method of service delivery for pastoralists and often more cost-effective, as they mirror their nomadic lifestyle (El Shiekh and van der Kwaak 2015; Weibel et al 2008;Mocellin and Foggin 2008).…”

“…Thus, integrated, mobile service delivery can improve pastoralist health. In order to implement this approach, new coordination mechanisms and health system infrastructure in ASALs is needed (Kansiime et al 2015).…”

Design and validation of Brucellosis prevention questionnaire focused on animal vaccination

“…The impact of education on brucellosis prevention among livestock breeders is studied through some researches [12,15,[36][37][38][39]. However, the effectiveness of education in those researches is evaluated by researcher-made questionnaires and the psychometric properties of research questionnaires in those researches are not reported.…”

“…In this study, awareness was the most predictive construct of livestock breeder preventive behavior of livestock breeder. The role of awareness and attitude in changing health behaviors is highlighted in studies [12,15,40]. For instance, in one study livestock breeders' attitude and practice scores were signi cantly improved after a PRECEDE-based educational intervention in a quasiexperimental study [39].…”

“…Studies in Iran showed that people are less aware of the ways of the transmission of the diseases [9][10][11]. Training livestock breeders is one of the most effective ways to overcome the barriers to brucellosis vaccinations [12].Given the remarkable role of theories and models in designing, implementation and evaluation of the educational programs, planning for a theory-driven and vaccination-focused training program for livestock breeders can be very helpful. [13,14].To the best of our knowledge, until the time of the performance of this study, no theory-driven intervention with a focus on livestock vaccination has been conducted so far to prevent brucellosis; consequently, we decided to design, implement and evaluate a theory-driven intervention with a focus on livestock vaccination through a training program for the livestock breeders to prevent brucellosis.…”