Unexpected and dangerous situations cropped during field research data collection for public health research: an experience sharing

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Morankar Sudhakar Narayan, Health, Behavior and Society, Jimma University, Ethiopia, [email protected]: Researcher has conducted 50 large/small scales research in India and Ethiopia and experienced unexpected dangerous situations during field research despite taking care of ethical rules and regulations. Few dangerous situations are explained here (to be expanded during presentation). Experience: 1. Female respondents' husbands planned to rape female data collectors in remote thick jungle of dacoit area in India due to certain questions in the family planning survey interview. 2. Male researchers were physically beaten by community due to misunderstanding between languages. 3. Field researcher’s vehicle was surrounded by community members with rifles, guns and didn’t allow to collect data detaining more than 4 hours due to not informing to village head in advance and entering village suddenly. 4. Community became angry after 2 days friendly field data collection in the village and surrounded the vehicle of field researchers with sticks, rifles, guns due to dacoits robbed the village during previous night considering field researchers as messengers to dacoits. 5. On the way to rural area for data collection before stopping researcher’s vehicle in one village by villagers having sticks, sharp weapons, stones in hands who was in attacking mood pelted small stone on the vehicle to stop it in Ethiopia. Ethnic riots were suddenly erupted in the area without the knowledge of researchers. There was ethical clearance from the government, district administration and police were informed detailed program of our research. But such situation nobody expected. If this incidence would have occurred what is the ethical solution for it

Coverage of child health services in rural districts of Ethiopia with the health services extension program

Improving access to health care services has been advocated widely since the Declaration of Alma-Ata. Despite the efforts to realize this in Ethiopia, it is only in the year 2003 that the intention to take the package of essential health services to the kebele level (smallest administrative unit) was realized through the introduction of the Health Services Extension Program (HSEP). The objective of this study was to explore whether introduction of HSEP has improved the coverage of child health services in the rural areas of Jimma Zone. A cross sectional study was conducted in three randomly selected districts of Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. The data collection was undertaken during the months of May, June and July, 2009. A structured questionnaire was used to interview female heads of sampled households from nine kebeles randomly selected in three Woredas (districts). Data were collected on the socio-demographic characteristics, use of health posts, child vaccination and childhood diarrhea. Checklists were used for record review. Data obtained were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) V14. Only 64.0% of the kebeles had functional health posts, although another 32.0% of the kebeles in the zone had health posts under construction. However, most (93.7%) of the kebeles in the zone already had two health extension workers (HEWs) assigned. Vaccination coverage as measured by DPT3 was 67.9%, and 10% of the under-two year old children included in this survey had diarrhoea during the past two weeks. Of the 34 (51.5%) mothers who sought help during diarrhoeal attacks, 12 (35.3%) of them went to the health post. The first places of treatment seeking were health centres and health posts, with equal proportion for both (43.5%). Treatment was sought within a day or two after commencement of diarrhoea for 70.6% of the children. Thirty nine (69.7%) of the 56 children who were given recommended fluids received oral rehydration solution (ORS) or homemade solution. In addition to continuing efforts to improve coverage, there is a need to ensure that activities are linked with follow up of vaccination, early treatment seeking and proper home management of diarrhoea