Abstract:
BACKGROUND : Notifiable diseases, a public health challenge in low- and middle-income
countries, require mandatory reporting and play a significant role in disease prevention and
control. Environmental health practitioners are responsible for reporting and investigating
notifiable diseases.
AIM : The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices on notifiable diseases
among environmental health practitioners within a metropolitan municipality.
SETTING : The study was conducted in the seven regions of the City of Johannesburg in Gauteng
province, South Africa.
METHODS : A cross-sectional and descriptive study was used. One hundred and thirty-five
participants were randomly sampled. The data were collected using a semi-structured
questionnaire and analysed using version 27 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS) software. All ethical considerations such as permissions, ethical clearance and informed
consent were observed throughout the study.
RESULTS : The majority of participants (n = 64; 47.4%) were aged between 30 and 39 years
and had a BTech/Honours degree (n = 106; 78.5%). A total of 106 (78.5%) participants
had received formal training, while 83.7% (n = 113) of the participants understood notifiable
diseases. Years of experience had a significant negative correlation with the ‘need to report
notifiable diseases’ (r = -0.193; p = 0.025).
CONCLUSION : The results could facilitate a knowledge improvement programme that includes
a structured training programme and standard operating procedures. The study results cannot
be generalised to the whole country; hence, the recommendation of a national survey on similar phenomena should be considered.
CONTRIBUTION : The study findings could assist in improving the role of environmental health
services in reporting and investigating notifiable diseases.
