PATENT MEDICINE VENDORS’ PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF COVID-19 INFECTION IN A NORTH-CENTRAL STATE IN NIGERIA

Objective: This report aimed to determine the immediate effect of the IPC training on the knowledge and role of patent medicine vendors (PMV) in the COVID-19 outbreak response in Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study before and after the IPC training among 1076 PMV in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Eight questions were asked, for which each was assigned a score of “1”. Participants who had scored<50% were categorized as “Fail”, while those with scores ≥50% were categorized as “Pass” in both the pre and post-tests. The Chi-square test was used to test for the association between sociodemographic characteristics and performance of respondents in the pre-and post-IPC knowledge results, and paired t-test to test for significant differences between the pre and post-tests mean scores. The level of significance was set at p<0.05 for all statistical tests. Results: The mean age of the 1076 respondents was 37.06±10.96, 463(43%) passed the pre-test, while 617 (57.3%) passed the post-test. The mean pre-test IPC training score was 3.1310±1.5631, while the mean post-test IPC training score was 3.7351±1.6028 (t=-11.337, p=<0.001). In all, 617(57.3%) scored higher in posttest. Overall, 560 (92.41%) identified community sensitization and health education on COVID-19 preventive measures as roles of PMV. Conclusion: Regular trainings on COVID-19 preventive practices among PMV should be conducted. PMV should be empowered to sensitize and educate their clients on the prevention of COVID-19.