Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34764709›Full record

ArticleRisk management and healthcare policy2021

Evidence Gaps and Challenges in the Fight Against COVID-19 in Africa: Scoping Review of the Ethiopian Experience.

Esayas Kebede Gudina, Matthias Siebeck, Million Tesfaye Eshete

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Risk management and healthcare policy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Disaster preparedness knowledge, attitude, and practice among Emergency Department staff in Ethiopian Hospitals.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Esayas Kebede GudinaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.ORCID 0000-0002-6264-9695
Matthias SiebeckCenter for International Health at LMU, University Hospital, LMU, Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-5290-5344
Million Tesfaye EsheteCenter for International Health at LMU, University Hospital, LMU, Munich, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEthiopia, like many African countries, took immediate actions to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and its impacts. However, the pandemic control measures were not guided by robust local evidence and not tailored to national contexts. In this review, we aimed to evaluate the evidence gaps and challenges of COVID-19 control measures in Ethiopia during the early months of the pandemic.

designScoping Review. DATA SOURCE: Searches were conducted in PubMed, LitCovid, Web of Sciences, Embase, MedRx, ChemRxiv, BioRx, and Google Scholar. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Peer-reviewed or pre-print original research articles on COVID-19 from Ethiopia during a period of January 1, 2020 and October 10, 2020 were included in this review.

resultsOf 573 articles found, 64 were eligible for inclusion. However, only 25 of them were peer-reviewed; 78% (50/64) were based on cross-sectional descriptive studies. Most of the studies focused on human behavior and healthcare system; only 13 articles addressed epidemiology and clinical spectrum of COVID-19. The studies have revealed a good level of awareness and a favorable attitude by community and healthcare workers (HCWs) towards COVID-19 and its control. However, the practices of infection prevention were found to be low among HCWs and the community. The outbreak unfolded at a slower rate than initially feared but the impact of the counter measures against COVID-19 on the delivery of essential healthcare services was felt more than the direct impact of the pandemic. Moreover, the actions taken by the country did not appear to be tailored to the pattern of the outbreak and existing local evidence. The overall number of published COVID-19-related scientific articles from Ethiopia during the review period was found to be limited.

conclusionCOVID-19 control in Ethiopia was challenged by lack of robust local scientific evidence, and the pandemic control measures were not adapted to local context and the outbreak patterns. Thus, Ethiopia and other African countries should design culturally sensitive and locally acceptable public health interventions for COVID-19 and potential future outbreaks based on locally generated scientific evidence.

Indexed as

COVID-19Ethiopiapandemicpreparednessresearchscoping review

Identifiers

PMID34764709
PMCPMC8575488

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.