Urban-rural disparities in HIV related knowledge, behavior and attitude in Burkina Faso: Evidence from Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey 2010

Introduction HIV infection is a global health concern and the epidemic is particularly serious in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding HIV-related knowledge, attitude and behavior is a key element for prevention programs. Because of rural-urban variations in social and economic factors, this study was conducted to assess urban-rural disparities in HIV-related knowledge, attitude and behavior in Burkina Faso. Methods This study is based on a nationally representative data from the 2010 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey. Odds ratios from the logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between HIV-related knowledge, attitude and behaviors with residence (urban /rural). Results More rural residents were uneducated (82.13%), illiterates (80.13%), and poor (94.54%) compared to urban residents with values of 17.87%, 19.87% and 5.45%, respectively. The prevalence of HIV residents was significantly lower among rural residents (0.65%) as compared with urban residents (1.88%). Rural residents compared to urban residents were more likely to have incomplete knowledge or inappropriate HIV-related attitude and behavior: incomplete knowledge about HIV (OR = 3.38, 95% CI 3.15 – 3.63), incomplete knowledge of MTCT prevention methods (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.88 – 2.16), non-accepting attitude toward people living with HIV (OR = 3.01, 95% CI 2.78 – 3.26), unfavorable for youth education on condom use (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.41 – 1.65), first sex before 15 years old (OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.96 – 1.21), multiple sex partnership among men (OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.33 – 1.75), don’t know any source of condoms (OR = 3.02, 95% CI 2.67 – 3.42) and don’t know any source of female condoms (OR = 3.27 95% CI 3.04 – 3.51). Conclusion Compared to urban residents, Burkina Faso rural residents tend to have limited HIV knowledge, limited access to condom. Also, compared to urban residents, more Burkina Faso rural residents had inappropriate HIV attitude and behavior. However, the HIV prevalence was lower among rural residents. The disparities between urban and rural residents of Burkina Faso with respect to HIV knowledge, attitude and behaviors calls for appropriate public health measures to increase HIV awareness in rural areas

An Analysis of Global Youth Tobacco Survey for Developing a Comprehensive National Smoking Policy in Timor-Leste

Background: Smoking is a global public health concern. Timor-Leste is facing a rapidly growing epidemic of tobacco use. The trend of smoking in Timor-Leste seems to be increasing and the magnitude of the problem affects people who smoke before reaching adulthood. One of the factors implicated in the continuously rising trend of smoking among young people in Timor-Leste is clearly due to unavailability of restrictive laws and regulations. Therefore, our study sought to analyze available dataset from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) for developing a comprehensive national smoking policy in order to lower smoking risks among young people in Timor-Leste. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2009 GYTS in Timor-Leste. The 2009 GYTS assessed 1657 in-school students aged 13–15 years for current smoking prevalence and determinants of tobacco use. We used IBM SPSS version 21 software to analyze the data. Frequency analyses were computed to identify demographic characteristics of study participants. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between each demographic characteristic as well as each independent variable and the outcome of being current smokers. Results: Out of 1657 in-school students, 51 % were of ages less than 15; 53 % were girls; and 45 % were in grade 2. Prevalence of current cigarette smoking was found to be 51 %. The prevalence of current smoking among in-school students increased with ages (from 46 % in less than 15 to 57 % in 15 plus). Boys were more likely to be smokers than girls (59 % versus 28 %). Significant factors positively associated with current smoking included parental smoking; closed-peer smoking; number of days people smoked in the house; having family discussion about harmful effects of smoking; being smoking in areas such as school, public places and home; and having seen cigarette advertisements on billboard. Conclusion: Timor-Leste has higher prevalence of cigarette smoking among minors, especially among boys. Our analysis provides evidence-based information for developing comprehensive tobacco control programs - both education and policy interventions to reduce smoking rate among young people in Timor-Leste

Archive of a social media campaign to request public accountability from the government of Togo, December 2016

In 2013, the Government of Togo set up a committee to run a public fund raising in support of the national football team (les Epervier) for its participation in the Africa Cup of Nations. No public report was given by the committee about the utilization made of the funding they have raised. In January 2017, the national team will be participating in the next Africa Cup of Nations' competition. Once again, to assure a successful participation of the team, the government announced the creation of a new fund raising committee, following a council of ministers on December 16, 2016. In this context, Togolese social media activist launched a campaign to request public accountability from the government, under the hastag #FaisonsLesComptes (let us make accounts in French) urging officials to provide details about the 2013 funds utilization. This archive was produced to document the tweeting activity related to the above mentioned campaign, from 17/12/2016 09:05:15 to 30/12/2016 05:01:33, on day after the government presented a report on the 2013 funding utilization in a press conference

Molecular xenomonitoring for post-validation surveillance of lymphatic filariasis in Togo: no evidence for active transmission.

BACKGROUND Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a mosquito-borne filarial disease targeted for elimination by the year 2020. The Republic of Togo undertook mass treatment of entire endemic communities from 2000 to 2009 to eliminate the transmission of the disease and is currently the first sub-Saharan African country to be validated by WHO for the elimination of LF as a public health problem. However, post-validation surveillance activities are required to ensure the gains achieved are sustained. This survey assessed the mosquito vectors of the disease and determined the presence of infection in these vectors, testing the hypothesis that transmission has already been interrupted in Togo. METHOD Mosquitoes were collected from 37 villages located in three districts in one of four evaluation units in the country. In each district, 30 villages were selected based on probability proportionate to size; eight villages (including one of the 30 villages already selected) where microfilaremia-positive cases had been identified during post-treatment surveillance activities were intentionally sampled. Mosquitoes were collected using pyrethrum spray collections (PSC) in households randomly selected in all villages for five months. In the purposefully selected communities, mosquitoes were also collected using human landing collections (HLC) and exit traps (ET). Collected mosquitoes were identified morphologically, and the identification of Wuchereria bancrofti DNA in the mosquitoes was based on the pool screening method, using the LAMP assay. RESULTS A total of 15,539 mosquitoes were collected during the study. Anopheles gambiae (72.6%) was the predominant LF vector collected using PSC. Pool screen analysis of 9191 An. gambiae in 629 pools revealed no mosquitoes infected with W. bancrofti (0%; CI: 0-0.021). CONCLUSIONS These results confirm the findings of epidemiological transmission assessment surveys conducted in 2012 and 2015, which demonstrated the absence of LF transmission in Togo. The challenges of implementing molecular xenomonitoring are further discussed