ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH WORKERS' AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE NIGERIA NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY IN KADUNA METROPOLIS

Climate change poses a significant threat to human health and well-being, and in recognition of this, the Nigerian government developed the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) to address its impacts. It is essential that health workers are well informed about the NCCP to encourage active contributions in educating and protecting the public against the adverse effects of climate change on their health. This study therefore assessed health workers' awareness and understanding of the NCCP in secondary public hospitals in Kaduna metropolis. Two research questions were formulated to guide this study. Using the Leslie Kish formula, a sample size of 160 was calculated, which was then increased to 179 to increase the precision of the study. A standard questionnaire was used as the major instrument for data collection from 185 health workers working in government-owned secondary care facilities in Kaduna metropolis. A sample size of 179 respondents were selected using multistage sampling. The data collected from the respondents was summarized descriptively and inferentially for the various categories included in this study. The majority of health workers were found to have good understanding of the basic concepts of the NCCP in Nigeria. A statistically significant relationship (p = 0.009) was found between awareness of NCCP and age of respondents. The study concluded stressing the need to develop an action guide for health workers to provide a clear description of their roles as it relates to the practice of the NCCP in Nigeria.