Abstract

The animal health services-seeking behaviour of animal owners related to prevention and control of animal diseases may influence their decisions as to whether or not to use services provided by the public or private sectors. The specific objective of this paper was to assess the practices, capacities and incentives of actors involved in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) control to provide information for prevention and control in Ghana. Questionnaires were designed based on specific practices, incentives and capacities associated with each mitigation measure that was being assessed. Two peacetime preventive mitigation measures (biosecurity and reporting) and two outbreak containment measures (culling with compensation and movement control) were selected for evaluation. Supply chain actors were characterised based on baseline information. Tables were generated showing proportions of respondents in the various response categories in Likert-scale type itemised questionnaire. Mean scores (and their standard deviations) for the various actors with regard to mitigation measures were calculated. Pair-wise comparisons were done using t-ratio statistic and significance of differences were determined at a Bonferroni adjusted P-value of 0.0024. The study found statistically significant differences between certain actors for practices (biosecurity, reporting, culling and compensation and movement controls), incentives (reporting and movement control) and capacities (reporting and movement control). The findings provide lessons to help improve education and messages on HPAI and to help provide technical assistance targeted at specific actors to prevent and control future HPAI H5N1 outbreaks in Ghana.

Abstract

Cycling is considered an environmentally-friendly mode of transport that offers many personal benefits including health, affordability and flexibility of travel. To encourage more people to cycle, especially in contexts where cycle ownership and ridership is considerably low, requires understanding the underlying motivations and barriers to cycling. This study models the behavioural influences of individuals’ (N = 348) intended adoption of cycling to work in the Kumasi metropolis in Ghana, West Africa. It deploys the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to explore the extent to which socio-psychological constructs namely; Attitude, perceived behavioural (PBC) and subjective norm (SN) influence intended adoption of cycling as work travel mode. The influence of participants’ perception of their physical environment as well as their personal characteristics, cycling history and bicycle ownership are also examined. Results of an SEM analysis showed that among the TPB constructs, PBC (i.e. perception of self-confidence, personal control and ease of cycling) had the strongest positive and direct effect on participants’ intention to cycle to work. Negative associations were found between attitude and SN and SN and PBC, suggesting that belief about the prestige of cycling relative to other modes, and approval of society and significant others of cycling, influenced perception of control and confidence as well as attitude with respect to cycling. Also, participants’ perception of their environment including traffic-lights, traffic volume and congestion, as well as bicycle ownership and frequency of use, increased intended adoption of cycling. Finally, being female decreased the likelihood of intended cycling adoption. Cycling promotion interventions could be anchored on people’s already strong perceived control and confidence to cycle while addressing negative perceptions and attitudes towards cycling as a mainstream transport mode. Document type: Article