Impact of prepackaging antimalarial drugs on cost to patients and compliance with treatment

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which district health teams could reduce the burden of malaria, a continuing major cause of mortality and morbidity, in a situation where severe resource constraints existed and integrated care was provided. METHODS: Antimalarial drugs were prepackaged into unit doses in an attempt to improve compliance with full courses of chemotherapy. FINDINGS:Compliance improved by approximately 20% in both adults and children. There were 50% reductions in cost to patients, waiting time at dispensaries and drug wastage at facilities. The intervention, which tended to improve both case and drug management at facilities, was well accepted by health staff and did not involve them in additional working time. CONCLUSION:The prepackaging of antimalarials at the district level offers the prospect of improved compliance and a reduction in the spread of resistance

Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from Raw Meat and Ghanaian Coin Currencies at Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana: The Public Health Implication

Introduction: The emergence and upsurge of multiple antibiotic resistant (MDR) Enterobacteriaceae in the environment is a cause of concern as this can result in an outbreak and spread to healthcare settings. MDR Enterobacteriaceae have been associated with high morbidity and mortality due to delay in selecting and delivering active therapy in time. Aims and Objectives: The study was conducted to investigate the level of contamination of raw meat and Ghanaian coins in circulation at Cape Coast Metropolis. In all, 10 raw meat were sampled each from chevron and beef from Kotokuraba market, and 400 Ghanaian coin currencies retrieved from food vendors, students, transport operators and banks were used in this study. Methods and Materials: The Enterobacteriaceae species isolated were tested for their susceptibility to Ampicillin, Tetracycline (TET), Gentamicin (GEN), Cotrimoxazole (COT), Cefuroxime (CRX), Cefixime (CXM), Cefotaxime (CTX), Penicillin (PEN), Cloxacillin (CXC), Erythromycin (ERY) and Amikacin (AMK) antibiotics using Mueller-Hinton agar antibiotic diffusion technique. Of the isolated Enterobacteriaceae, 30% and 62% from chevron and beef respectively and 14.17%, 13.75% and 10.63% from food vendors, students and transport operators respectively showed resistance to some of the antibiotics tested. Results and Discussions: 8.6% of the Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolated from chevon were resistant to CRXr-CHLr-AMPr-COTr-GEMr and 15.5% of CRXi-CHLi-AMPr- TETr-COTr from beef. 40.0% of E. coli isolated from coin currencies were resistant to CRXr-CHLr-AMPr-TETr-CTXr, 50.0% of Enterobacter spp to CRXr-CHLr-AMPr-TETr-CTXr, 16.67% of Proteus spp to CRXi-CHLi-AMPr-TETr-AMKi, 40% Pseudomonas spp to CRXr-AMPr-TETr- AMKi and 100% of Enterobacter spp to CRXr-AMPr-TETi-CTXr. Conclusion: The multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates from circulating Ghanaian coins and raw meats in the Cape Coast metropolis is an indication of an impending danger which requires immediate attention to prevent a possible outbreak and spread from the society to the hospital setting

Agroecological transformation for sustainable food systems : Insight on France-CGIAR research

This 26th dossier d’Agropolis is devoted to research and partnerships in agroecology. The French Commission for International Agricultural Research (CRAI) and Agropolis International, on behalf of CIRAD, INRAE and IRD and in partnership with CGIAR, has produced this new issue in the ‘Les dossiers d’Agropolis international’ series devoted to agroecology. This publication has been produced within the framework of the Action Plan signed by CGIAR and the French government on February 4th 2021 to strengthen French collaboration with CGIAR, where agroecology is highlighted as one of the three key priorities (alongside climate change, nutrition and food systems)