Women’s Narratives about COVID-19, Preventive Practices and Sources of Information in Northwestern Tanzania

Abstract

COVID-19 has affected millions of people across the world. We conducted a phone based qualitative study to explore women’s perceptions of COVID-19, knowledge of its symptoms, transmission, and prevention practices in Northwestern Tanzania. We also examined their sources of information about the disease. Findings show that much of women’s framing of etiology, symptoms, and transmission routes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) greatly reflects the World Health Organization (WHO)/Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) frame. Their preventive practices against COVID-19 included the biomedical, cultural, and religious frames, as participants engaged traditional practices and spiritual interventions alongside public health recommendations. Mass media was the main source of information about COVID-19, and one of the trusted sources, in addition to religious and local leaders. To be effective, health promotion programs on pandemics should make more use of the mass media, and communal networks to reach populations.

Routine health check-ups for adolescents in Mwanza City, Tanzania: stakeholders’ recommendations on its content, venue, and mode of delivery

“…We collected data using interviews carried out in person or through virtual platforms, allowing our team to conduct the study during the Covid-19 outbreak in Tanzania. This is in line with a recent study conducted by our team [ 54 ], which showed that using virtual platforms and mobile phones for data collection during restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic enhanced safety for both the research team and the study participants, as well as saving time and cost for travel.…”

COVID-19 vaccination willingness in peri-urban Tanzanian communities: Towards contextualising and moving beyond the individual perspective

“…Because the disease did not officially exist in the country, general treatment guidelines were never released, and every hospital had to rely on their own protocols to handle patients with COVID-19. The government's stance also changed the public's perception of COVID-19 and undermined their trust in conventional medicine (Buguzi, 2021;Mchome et al, 2021). Additionally, Verelst et al (2018) discovered that people are less incentivised to get vaccinated as the prevalence of the vaccine preventable disease seemingly drops, and Hornsey et al (2020) found that people tended to be significantly more concerned about vaccines after being exposed to anti-vax tweets from former US president Trump.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on delivery of oncology services in Northern Tanzania: a cross-sectional study of community health workers and patients undergoing cancer treatment at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre

“… 28 A small qualitive study of women (without cancer) in Tanzania found that they many had ‘normalised’ COVID-19 as an illness such as seasonal malaria or influenza, and some believed that God had answered their prayers in protecting Tanzania against COVID-19. 29 While the study did not compare women with men, a possible interpretation is that women were more likely than men to believe these narratives which were circulated by the government and media.…”

“…This contrasts to studies in Italy and Poland, where female patients with cancer were more likely to fear COVID-19 than male patients with cancer22 27 and a recent meta-analysis which found that in general populations, women had greater COVID-19 related fear and anxiety 28. A small qualitive study of women (without cancer) in Tanzania found that they many had ‘normalised’ COVID-19 as an illness such as seasonal malaria or influenza, and some believed that God had answered their prayers in protecting Tanzania against COVID-19 29. While the study did not compare women with men, a possible interpretation is that women were more likely than men to believe these narratives which were circulated by the government and media.…”