Prevalence of Gestational Diabetes in Hospitals in the City of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Case of the Jason Sendwe General Reference Hospital in 2015 to 2019

Gestational diabetes is defined as a carbohydrate tolerance disorder leading to hyperglycaemia of varying severity, occurring or first diagnosed during pregnancy, regardless of the treatment required and the course of the postpartum period. Its prevalence has been estimated at between 2.2% and 8.8% of pregnancies, depending on the populations studied and the screening criteria used. We determined the prevalence of gestational diabetes at the Jason Sendwe General Referral Hospital. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from January 2015 to December 2019 at Sendwe Hospital. It concerned 48 pregnant women from 24 weeks of pregnancy. The diagnosis of gestational diabetes was made by blood glucose obtained with the O'Sullivan test or by fasting blood glucose. The prevalence of gestational diabetes was 2.15%. Modifiable and non-modifiable factors associated with gestational diabetes in this study are age ≥ 35 years, parity, history of macrosomia, and history of type 2 diabetes in the surrogates of the pregnancies. The prevalence rate remains high and shows that gestational diabetes is a public health problem in the city of Lubumbashi. The O'Sullivan test is a valid alternative for its good detection. We found that age, especially after 35 years is the major determinant of gestational diabetes in the population living in Lubumbashi

COVID-19 associated with diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases led to a global health crisis

COVID-19 has gravely threatened high-risk populations, such as people with diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases, leading to disproportionate hospitalizations and deaths worldwide. It is well documented from previous outbreaks that diabetes increases the risk for poor outcomes due to SARS infection. In the present review, we bring evidence that the country and global level health crisis caused by COVID-19 could have been avoided or extremely minimized if measures to protect high-risk populations were implemented timely. In addition to general lockdowns, testing, tracing, isolation and hygiene measures, other specific interventions for diabetes and comorbidities management were shown crucial to allow the continuation of care services during the pandemic. These interventions included: teleconsultation, digital remote education andmonitoring, e-prescriptions, medicine delivery options, mobile clinics, and home point-of-care tests. In conclusion, we recommend prompt actions to protect the most vulnerable groups, valuing knowledge and experiences from previous outbreaks and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to shield communities, health systems and the global economy. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

The case for investment in tobacco control: lessons from four countries in the Americas

Objective. To synthesize learnings from four national tobacco control investment cases conducted in the Ameri- cas (Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Suriname) under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) 2030 project, to describe results and how national health authorities have used the cases, and to discuss implications for the role of investment cases in advancing tobacco control. Methods. We draw on findings from four national investment cases that included 1) a cost-of-illness analysis calculating the health and economic burden of tobacco use, 2) a return-on-investment analysis of implement- ing key tobacco control demand reduction measures, and 3) a subsidiary analysis of one tobacco control topic of national interest (e.g., equity implications of cigarette taxation). Co-authors reported how cases have been used to advance tobacco control. Results. In Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Suriname, tobacco use causes social and economic losses equivalent to between 1.0 to 1.8 percent of GDP. Across these countries, implementing WHO FCTC demand reduction measures would save an average of 11 400 lives per year over the next 15 years. Benefits of the mea- sures would far outweigh the costs of implementation and enforcement. Governments are using the cases to advance tobacco control, including to improve tobacco control laws and their enforcement, strengthen tobacco taxation, prioritize tobacco control planning, coordinate a multisectoral response, and engage political leaders. Conclusions. National investment cases can help to strengthen tobacco control in countries, including by increasing public and political support for implementation of the WHO FCTC and by informing effective plan- ning, legislation, coordination and financing

Time to establish an international vaccine candidate pool for potential highly infectious respiratory disease: a community's view.

In counteracting highly infectious and disruptive respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, vaccination remains the primary and safest way to prevent disease, reduce the severity of illness, and save lives. Unfortunately, vaccination is often not the first intervention deployed for a new pandemic, as it takes time to develop and test vaccines, and confirmation of safety requires a period of observation after vaccination to detect potential late-onset vaccine-associated adverse events. In the meantime, nonpharmacologic public health interventions such as mask-wearing and social distancing can provide some degree of protection. As climate change, with its environmental impacts on pathogen evolution and international mobility continue to rise, highly infectious respiratory diseases will likely emerge more frequently and their impact is expected to be substantial. How quickly a safe and efficacious vaccine can be deployed against rising infectious respiratory diseases may be the most important challenge that humanity will face in the near future. While some organizations are engaged in addressing the World Health Organization's "blueprint for priority diseases", the lack of worldwide preparedness, and the uncertainty around universal vaccine availability, remain major concerns. We therefore propose the establishment of an international candidate vaccine pool repository for potential respiratory diseases, supported by multiple stakeholders and countries that contribute facilities, technologies, and other medical and financial resources. The types and categories of candidate vaccines can be determined based on information from previous pandemics and epidemics. Each participant country or region can focus on developing one or a few vaccine types or categories, together covering most if not all possible potential infectious diseases. The safety of these vaccines can be tested using animal models. Information for effective candidates that can be potentially applied to humans will then be shared across all participants. When a new pandemic arises, these pre-selected and tested vaccines can be quickly tested in RCTs for human populations

New Treatments of Infectious Diseases over the Last Ten Years

peer reviewedThis review focuses on new antibiotics, particularly for gram-positive infections, new antiretroviral drugs, new treatment of fungal infections and indications of miltefosine in the treatment of leishmaniasis

Factors Influencing the Online Buying Behaviour of the Consumer: A Case Study on Students of Marien Ngouabi University

The Republic of Congo is gaining importance as a lucrative market for traders. Since the recent economic revolution, Congolese consumers have recently begun understanding the benefits of using the internet to shop. However, a growing number of internet users have not been reflected in online sales. Therefore, it is important to identify the factors that affect the Republic of Congo in its bid for online shoppers to find a way to promote their online shopping behaviour. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that affect the perception of Republic of Congo consumers about online shopping by investigating Congolese consumer perceptions about online shopping. The tested factors include pre-identified features (Market Motivation, Psychological, personal and social) and specific factors in Congo (Social, Cost, and brand) for this study. The findings suggest that cost and product brand are important factors that influence the consumer's behaviour when shopping online