Professions and the social order: some lessons from Burkina Faso?

The study of professions has been dominated by Anglo-American models, with their focus on a small group of legally-licensed occupations. The field has recently shifted, mainly through studies of European experience, to a wider examination of the social management of expert workers. Very little has been written about developments in Africa and their implications for the way in which we might think about professions. This paper presents a case study of the role and practices of the medical profession in Burkina Faso, which has a relatively open market for the supply of healing services and limited regulation of the suppliers, whether physicians or traditional practitioners. The study returns to classic questions about the extent to which practice is shaped by the nature of occupational niches within the division of labour or to the development of a distinctive moral character among the workers within that niche

Prevalence of HIV infection among the patients with an avascular necrosis of the femoral head in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Objective: To study the prevalence of HIV infection among the risk factors associated with the avascular necrosis of the femoral head in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Design: Multicenter retrospective study. Setting: Rheumatology consultations and Orthopedic-Traumatology Surgery Department Of The University Hospital Yalgado Ouédraogo, at the Medico-Surgical Private Clinic “Notre Dame de la Paix” and the Medical Center ‘Paul VI’ in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Patients and methods: The study was conducted on recorded cases from January 2007 to December 2009. All patients received during the study period for an avascular necrosis of the femoral head that was confirmed by X-ray and / or CT were included. The search for HIV antibodies was performed for all patients by the ELISA test confirmed by the Western Blot test. Results: There were 79 men (56%) and 62 women (44%). It shows a sex ratio of 1.2. The average age of patients was 43.95 ± 15.36 years with extremes of 7 and 79 years. The average duration of disease before diagnosis was 6 ± 6.5 years with extremes of 1 and 39 years. The affected area involved the left hip in 67 cases (47.5%), the right hip in 48 cases (34%) and was bilateral in 26 cases (18.5%). Among the risk factors, alcohol consumption was reported in 30/67 (44.8%), steroids in 09/67 (13.4%), sickle cell disease in 12/141 (8.5%). Six patients (4.25%) among the 141 had an HIV infection. Conclusion: HIV infection has a place among the risk factors of an avascular necrosis of the femoral head. A HIV serology test should be systematically carried out in all patients with an avascular necrosis of the femoral head in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the absence of other risk factors. Key words: Avascular necrosis of the femoral head, HIV, sickle cell disease, sub-Saharan Africa