Knowledge and practice of emergency contraception among female students of public university of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa

Background: Female students are exposed to unsafe sex, sources of unwanted pregnancy and abortions. It is recognized that emergency contraception can effectively prevent pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and practices of Ouagadougou public university students in relation to emergency contraception in order to propose solutions to reduce the proportion of unwanted pregnancies among female students.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted between May 1st and October 31st, 2016 in the public universities of Ouagadougou. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 732 students randomly selected.Results: The average age of female students was 22.7 years old. The age group 19 to 24 was the most represented (68.03%). Of the students surveyed, 87% knew or had heard of emergency contraception. The students only used the emergency contraceptive pill. The emergency contraceptive use rate was 44.42%. Approximately, 83% of users were aware of the delay in using emergency contraception. The reasons for using emergency contraception were condom breakage (25.10%) and unprotected sex (74.9%). Female students purchased the contraceptive directly in pharmacies (93.61%).Conclusions: Emergency contraception gives women a last chance to avoid an unwanted pregnancy after unprotected sex.  Awareness and free availability of emergency contraception (EC) could improve the reproductive health of female students

Optimising geographical accessibility to primary health care: A geospatial analysis of community health posts and community health workers in Niger

Background Little is known about the contribution of community health posts and community health workers (CHWs) to geographical accessibility of primary healthcare (PHC) services at community level and strategies for optimising geographical accessibility to these services. Methods Using a complete georeferenced census of community health posts and CHWs in Niger and other high-resolution spatial datasets, we modelled travel times to community health posts and CHWs between 2000 and 2013, accounting for training, commodities and maximum population capacity. We estimated additional CHWs needed to optimise geographical accessibility of the population beyond the reach of the existing community health post network. We assessed the efficiency of geographical targeting of the existing community health post network compared with networks designed to optimise geographical targeting of the estimated population, under-5 deaths and Plasmodium falciparum malaria cases. Results The per cent of the population within 60-minute walking to the nearest community health post with a CHW increased from 0.0% to 17.5% between 2000 and 2013. An estimated 10.4 million people (58.5%) remained beyond a 60-minute catchment of community health posts. Optimal deployment of 7741 additional CHWs could increase geographical coverage from 41.5% to 82.9%. Geographical targeting of the existing community health post network was inefficient but optimised networks could improve efficiency by 32.3%-47.1%, depending on targeting metric. Interpretations We provide the first estimates of geographical accessibility to community health posts and CHWs at national scale in Niger, highlighting improvements between 2000 and 2013, geographies where gaps remained and approaches for optimising geographical accessibility to PHC services at community level

Analyse des structures syntaxiques des kisgu « interdits sociaux » chez les Moose de Sabcé

Résumé : Les interdits sociaux chez les Moose de Sabcé sont des règles de conduite qui encadrent la vie de la communauté moaaga de cette localité du Burkina Faso. Si ces interdits sont présents et bien connus dans toute la communauté, la maîtrise de leurs structures reste moins connue. C’est la raison pour laquelle nous avons choisi d’analyser les structures syntaxiques des interdits sociaux des Mosse de Sabcé. L’objectif de cette étude est de répertorier les différents types d’interdits afin de dégager les structures syntaxiques des énoncés de ces formules langagières moose. Pour ce faire, le structuralisme à visée fonctionnaliste de Maurice HOUIS (1963 et1971) et de Denis CREISSELS (1991, 2006a et b) nous a permis de mener à bien l’analyse. Après analyse, nous sommes arrivés aux résultats que les différents types de phrases rencontrés dans la formulation des énoncés des interdits sociaux sont des phrases de type déclaratif. Aussi, les structures syntaxiques des énoncés des interdits sociaux sont : des phrases simple et composé. Mots-clés : structures syntaxiques, formule langagière, interdits sociaux, Moose, Sabc

L'agroécologie pour l'agriculture familiale dans les pays du Sud : impasse ou voie d'avenir ? Le cas des zones de savane cotonnière de l'Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre

International audienceDans les zones de savane subhumides d'Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre, le modèle de production agricole inspiré par la révolution verte reste celui proposé aux agriculteurs et aux éleveurs. Il mobilise des intrants chimiques, des équipements et des races et variétés sélectionnées. Cette option a été confirmée après les émeutes de la faim de 2008, lorsque la plupart d es États d'Afrique subsaharienne ont subventionné les engrais minéraux. Ce modèle de production n'est pas seulement proposé par les structures de développement ou le secteur privé, les agriculteurs sont aussi dema ndeurs d'un appui pour le mettre en place malgré ses limites et les risques encourus. Mais ces agriculteurs s ont aussi détenteurs de savoir-faire reposant sur des processus écologiques qui permettraient un fonctionneme nt des agroécosystèmes plus efficace et plus durable. Mais les techniques mobilisant ces processu s et savoir-faire sont souvent délaissés ou non applicables sur de grandes surfaces. Globalement l'intensification de la production par l'utilisation des intrants et d'équipements est bien mieux appréciée des producteurs que l'intensification écologique des systèmes de production. Bien que connus des structures de développement agricole ces modèle de production "agroécologiques" ont rarement été adoptés à grande échelle. Sans remettre en question l'intérêt des recherches sur l'Agroécologie et su r les l'IE des systèmes de production, on propose de mieux comprendre les choix des agriculteurs et des décideurs des pays du Sud afin de rapprocher leur s points de vue de ceux des chercheurs qui prônent ces nouveaux modèles de production agricole

Impact of a quality improvement intervention on neonatal mortality in a regional hospital in Burkina Faso

The neonatal period is the most vulnerable time in terms of a child's survival, with mortality during this period accounting for approximately half of the deaths before the age of 5 years. The Neonatal Essential Survival Technology (NEST) project is a program aiming to reduce mortality by improving the quality of neonatal care in sub-Saharan Africa. This study presents the evaluation of the first phase of the NEST intervention program at Saint Camille Hospital Ouagadougou (HOSCO), Burkina Faso, in terms of the reduction in neonatal mortality.This is a retrospective analysis, based on "pre-intervention" data collected in 2015, and "post-intervention" data collected in 2018, including all infants admitted to the neonatal unit of HOSCO. The intervention period (2016 and 2017) comprised a structured quality improvement process conducted by a multidisciplinary working group that focused on improving infrastructure, equipment, training and use of clinical protocols, team working within the neonatal unit and with other hospital departments, and communication with referring healthcare facilities. Mortality data were compared pre- vs. post-intervention using a logistic regression model.The analysis included 1427 infants in the pre-intervention period, and 819 post-intervention. In both time periods, more than 75% of admissions were infants with low birth weight, and nearly 50% were very low birth weight. Post-intervention, while there was a decrease in overall admission, the proportion of multiple births increased from 20% to 24% (The first phase of the NEST quality improvement program was associated with a decrease in mortality in outborn infants admitted to the neonatal unit at HOSCO. Long-term assessment is expected to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the program in a low-income setting

Evaluation of the 19 varieties and accessions of tomato against bacterial wilt in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum E. F. Smith is one of the most harmful phytobacteriosis in the world. The search for varieties resistant or tolerant to this disease is the main method of control. However, there is very little information on tomato accessions and varieties deemed resistant or tolerant to the disease in Burkina Faso, hence the resistance assessment of 19 tomato varieties and accessions in the field in order to improve the productivity of tomatoes in Burkina Faso. With respect to varietal screening, a completely randomized Fisher block was used and agromorphological parameters were evaluated. The evaluation has shown that CRA 66, F1 Platinum, NC72TR4-4, Hawaii 7996, BF-Okitsu and FBT4 are more resistant with respective incidences of 1.25%; 1.25; 1.47%; 2.50%; 2.95% and 4.37%; while L390 was the most sensitive (38.80%). In terms of production, F1 Platinum, F1 Mongal, FBT3 and FBT4 gave the best net yields of 25.85; 25.47; 20.6 and 20.34 tonnes.ha-1. On the other hand, some accessions (CRA66 and BF-Okitsu), which are less sensitive to the pathogen, gave derisory yields. In view of the results obtained, market gardeners in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso can be advised of INERA varieties FBT3 and FBT4 and the F1 Platinum and F1 Mongal hybrids for their good behavior in terms of resistance to the disease and/or of correct yield in infected soils.Keywords: Burkina Faso, R. solanacearum, tomato, varietal resistanc

Seasonal vaccination against malaria: a potential use for an imperfect malaria vaccine.

In many parts of the African Sahel and sub-Sahel, where malaria remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity, transmission of the infection is highly seasonal. Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), which involves administration of a full course of malaria treatment to young children at monthly intervals during the high transmission season, is proving to be an effective malaria control measure in these areas. However, SMC does not provide complete protection and it is demanding to deliver for both families and healthcare givers. Furthermore, there is a risk of the emergence in the future of resistance to the drugs, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine, that are currently being used for SMC. Substantial progress has been made in the development of malaria vaccines during the past decade and one malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01, has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Authority and will soon be deployed in large-scale, pilot implementation projects in sub-Saharan Africa. A characteristic feature of this vaccine, and potentially of some of the other malaria vaccines under development, is that they provide a high level of efficacy during the period immediately after vaccination, but that this wanes rapidly, perhaps because it is difficult to develop effective immunological memory to malaria antigens in subjects exposed previously to malaria infection. A potentially effective way of using malaria vaccines with high initial efficacy but which provide only a short period of protection could be annual, mass vaccination campaigns shortly before each malaria transmission season in areas where malaria transmission is confined largely to a few months of the year

The effects of external Mn2+ concentration on hyphal morphology and citric acid production are mediated primarily by the NRAMP-family transporter DmtA in Aspergillus niger

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Dynamics of germs responsible for acute bacterial meningitis in Burkina Faso in the last ten years (2005-2014)

The aim of this study was to analyze ten (10) years of epidemiological surveillance data of meningitis in Burkina Faso for high risk germs patterns identification in order to contribute to the strengthening of prevention strategies.A retrospective study of the past decade (2005- 2014) of cases of acute bacterial meningitis occurred in the thirteen health regions, collected through epidemiological surveillance data meningitis in Burkina Faso. From a total of 88 057 suspected cases of acute bacterial meningitis, we recorded 9134 deaths. From the laboratory confirmed cases, the identified germs were as follows: 56.79% of Neisseria meningitidis, 41.09% of Streptococcus pneumoniae and 2.13% of Haemophilus influenzae. Among the meningococcus isolated, we observed the following distribution: 23.11% of NmA, 58.84% of NmW and 18% of NmX.Mortality associated with acute bacterial meningitis remains still high in Burkina Faso despite the complete disappearance of NmA since 2012, after the conjugate vaccine A (MenAfriVac) has been introduced in this country. However the emergence of NmX, the reemergence of NmW and the persistence of high prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae are a major concern in the fight against meningitis in Burkina Faso. So, it is necessary, in addition to the strengthening of surveillance, diagnosis and case management to develop and make available and accessible a conjugate trivalent vaccine against NmA the NmX and NmW serogroups.Keywords: meningococcal meningitis, W and X serogroups, Streptococcus pneumoniae, MenAfriVa