Predictive Modeling of Healthcare Workers' Priorities of WHO 2030 Key Activities for Snakebite Prevention and Control in Ghana
Journal:
medRxiv
Published Date:
Jan 16, 2026
Abstract
Snakebite is a neglected public health problem that results in significant morbidity and mortality, necessitating the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a snakebite roadmap that aimed to halve the burden of snakebite envenoming (SBE) by 2030. This study predicted healthcare workers priorities regarding the WHOs 2030 snakebite strategic key activities for preventing and controlling SBE. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Kwahu Afram Plains North and South districts of Ghana from August to December 2024 and involved 137 healthcare workers, including physici n assistants, clinical officers, medical doctors, certificate/enrolled/general nurses, pharmacists, dispensing technicians, and community health nurses, using a multistage sampling technique. Maximum difference choice experiments and five machine learning models were used to analyze the data. Healthcare workers prioritized the activity "Making safe, effective antivenoms available, accessible, and affordable to all" as the most crucial key activity, with a utility estimate (UE) of 0.8256 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7300 to 0.9213), followed by "Effective first aid care and ambulance transport" (UE = 0.4348, 95% CI: 0.3266, 0.5430), "Coordinated data management and analysis" (UE = 0.3744, 95% CI: 0.2353, 0.5134), and "Promoting advocacy, effective communication, and productive engagement" (UE = 0.3630, 95% CI: 0.2528, 0.4732). The use of choice experiments and ML models has provided insights into healthcare workers priorities concerning the WHOs 2030 key activities for snakebite prevention and control. This innovative approach offers a nuanced understanding of local perspectives on WHOs key activities, which is essential for combating the burden of SBE in Ghana.
