Obstacles to the Respect of Preventive Measures against Covid-19: The Case of the Mifi Health District, West-Cameroon Region

In December 2019, the coronavirus outbreak was declared in the Wuhan Province of the Republic of China. Over time, it gradually spread to Asia, Europe and Africa, resulting in the death or quarantine of several people. Few weeks after, the World Health Organisation announced that the situation has moved from an epidemic to a pandemic, with over 170,000 cases in 146 countries, and about 6,500 deaths (NBC, 2020). In Cameroon, from the very first hours of the pandemic, the Government implemented a prevention and response plan aimed at stopping the spread of the pandemic. In that sense, the Government tried to implement different public health measures to prevent and control the further spread of the disease. Research studies emerges all over the world regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in different aspects. However, few studies have questioned challenges face by the populations and their adherence to the prescribed measures. Such knowledge is essential for government policy concerning the current outbreak as well as future pandemics. That is why the objective of the current research work was to identify obstacles to the respect of preventive measures against Covid-19 at the Mifi Health District in West-Cameroon Region. To attain this objective a qualitative design was used. The phenomenological method permitted to interview different groups of participants, 30 in total, according to the saturation principle. Data were collected from August to September 2022. The analysis was done using the content analysis technique. The study found that there three main obstacles to the respect of preventive measures against Covid-19 in the MIFI Health District in West-Cameroon Region: scientific, social and cultural obstacles.