Economic policies and methods of determining the costs of services related to national telecommunication/ICT networks: Output Report on ITU-D Question 4/1 for the study period 2018-2021

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Guidelines on cost modelling: Economic policies and methods of determining the costs of services related to national telecommunication/ICT networks

These final guidelines on cost modelling were elaborated under ITU-D Question 4/1 on economic policies and methods of determining the costs of services related to national telecommunication/ICT networks, including next-generation networks

Lessons learned for surveillance system strengthening through capacity building and partnership engagement in post-Ebola Guinea, 2015–2019

The 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea revealed systematic weaknesses in the existing disease surveillance system, which contributed to delayed detection, underreporting of cases, widespread transmission in Guinea and cross-border transmission to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, leading to the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded. Efforts to understand the epidemic's scale and distribution were hindered by problems with data completeness, accuracy, and reliability. In 2017, recognizing the importance and usefulness of surveillance data in making evidence-based decisions for the control of epidemic-prone diseases, the Guinean Ministry of Health (MoH) included surveillance strengthening as a priority activity in their post-Ebola transition plan and requested the support of partners to attain its objectives. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) and four of its implementing partners—International Medical Corps, the International Organization for Migration, RTI International, and the World Health Organization—worked in collaboration with the Government of Guinea to strengthen the country's surveillance capacity, in alignment with the Global Health Security Agenda and International Health Regulations 2005 objectives for surveillance and reporting. This paper describes the main surveillance activities supported by US CDC and its partners between 2015 and 2019 and provides information on the strategies used and the impact of activities. It also discusses lessons learned for building sustainable capacity and infrastructure for disease surveillance and reporting in similar resource-limited settings

Efficacy and effectiveness of an rVSV-vectored vaccine in preventing Ebola virus disease: final results from the Guinea ring vaccination, open-label, cluster-randomised trial (Ebola Ça Suffit!).

BACKGROUND: rVSV-ZEBOV is a recombinant, replication competent vesicular stomatitis virus-based candidate vaccine expressing a surface glycoprotein of Zaire Ebolavirus. We tested the effect of rVSV-ZEBOV in preventing Ebola virus disease in contacts and contacts of contacts of recently confirmed cases in Guinea, west Africa. METHODS: We did an open-label, cluster-randomised ring vaccination trial (Ebola ça Suffit!) in the communities of Conakry and eight surrounding prefectures in the Basse-Guinée region of Guinea, and in Tomkolili and Bombali in Sierra Leone. We assessed the efficacy of a single intramuscular dose of rVSV-ZEBOV (2×107 plaque-forming units administered in the deltoid muscle) in the prevention of laboratory confirmed Ebola virus disease. After confirmation of a case of Ebola virus disease, we definitively enumerated on a list a ring (cluster) of all their contacts and contacts of contacts including named contacts and contacts of contacts who were absent at the time of the trial team visit. The list was archived, then we randomly assigned clusters (1:1) to either immediate vaccination or delayed vaccination (21 days later) of all eligible individuals (eg, those aged ≥18 years and not pregnant, breastfeeding, or severely ill). An independent statistician generated the assignment sequence using block randomisation with randomly varying blocks, stratified by location (urban vs rural) and size of rings (≤20 individuals vs >20 individuals). Ebola response teams and laboratory workers were unaware of assignments. After a recommendation by an independent data and safety monitoring board, randomisation was stopped and immediate vaccination was also offered to children aged 6-17 years and all identified rings. The prespecified primary outcome was a laboratory confirmed case of Ebola virus disease with onset 10 days or more from randomisation. The primary analysis compared the incidence of Ebola virus disease in eligible and vaccinated individuals assigned to immediate vaccination versus eligible contacts and contacts of contacts assigned to delayed vaccination. This trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry, number PACTR201503001057193. FINDINGS: In the randomised part of the trial we identified 4539 contacts and contacts of contacts in 51 clusters randomly assigned to immediate vaccination (of whom 3232 were eligible, 2151 consented, and 2119 were immediately vaccinated) and 4557 contacts and contacts of contacts in 47 clusters randomly assigned to delayed vaccination (of whom 3096 were eligible, 2539 consented, and 2041 were vaccinated 21 days after randomisation). No cases of Ebola virus disease occurred 10 days or more after randomisation among randomly assigned contacts and contacts of contacts vaccinated in immediate clusters versus 16 cases (7 clusters affected) among all eligible individuals in delayed clusters. Vaccine efficacy was 100% (95% CI 68·9-100·0, p=0·0045), and the calculated intraclass correlation coefficient was 0·035. Additionally, we defined 19 non-randomised clusters in which we enumerated 2745 contacts and contacts of contacts, 2006 of whom were eligible and 1677 were immediately vaccinated, including 194 children. The evidence from all 117 clusters showed that no cases of Ebola virus disease occurred 10 days or more after randomisation among all immediately vaccinated contacts and contacts of contacts versus 23 cases (11 clusters affected) among all eligible contacts and contacts of contacts in delayed plus all eligible contacts and contacts of contacts never vaccinated in immediate clusters. The estimated vaccine efficacy here was 100% (95% CI 79·3-100·0, p=0·0033). 52% of contacts and contacts of contacts assigned to immediate vaccination and in non-randomised clusters received the vaccine immediately; vaccination protected both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in those clusters. 5837 individuals in total received the vaccine (5643 adults and 194 children), and all vaccinees were followed up for 84 days. 3149 (53·9%) of 5837 individuals reported at least one adverse event in the 14 days after vaccination; these were typically mild (87·5% of all 7211 adverse events). Headache (1832 [25·4%]), fatigue (1361 [18·9%]), and muscle pain (942 [13·1%]) were the most commonly reported adverse events in this period across all age groups. 80 serious adverse events were identified, of which two were judged to be related to vaccination (one febrile reaction and one anaphylaxis) and one possibly related (influenza-like illness); all three recovered without sequelae. INTERPRETATION: The results add weight to the interim assessment that rVSV-ZEBOV offers substantial protection against Ebola virus disease, with no cases among vaccinated individuals from day 10 after vaccination in both randomised and non-randomised clusters. FUNDING: WHO, UK Wellcome Trust, the UK Government through the Department of International Development, Médecins Sans Frontières, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through the Research Council of Norway's GLOBVAC programme), and the Canadian Government (through the Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, International Development Research Centre and Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development)

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

PROBLEME OUVERT ET MEMOIRE A LONG TERME : PERCEPTIONS DES ENSEIGNANTS SUR LE CAS DU PROJECTILE / OPEN-ENDED PROBLEM AND LONG-TERM MEMORY: TEACHERS IDEAS ON PROJECTILE CASE

Il ressort de nombreux travaux, que des élèves et étudiants font du « par cœur », qui a l’inconvénient de saturer l’espace de travail de la mémoire et de ne pas être mobilisable. L’objectif de ce travail était d’identifier les types de problèmes utilisés par des enseignants de physique-chimie de lycée d’enseignement secondaire général lors des évaluations formatives et sommatives, dans le cas du mouvement d’un projectile. Les résultats de nos entretiens avec cinq enseignants de physique-chimie montrent, qu’ils ne font pas recours au problème ouvert. Ils ont reconnu l’impact positif du problème ouvert proposé, sur la mémoire à long terme, pour un meilleur apprentissage, contrairement au problème fermé. Les enseignants doivent, eux-mêmes, être formés à l’enseignement par problème ouvert, dont la résolution se fait par modélisation. Cette double dimension (épistémologique et didactique) favorise les apprentissages dans le contexte de l’approche par compétences (APC). Many studies have shown that pupils and students use « rote learning », which saturates their working memory space and is not mobilizable. The objective of this work was to identify the types of problems used by high school physics-chemistry teachers during formative and summative evaluations, in the case of projectile motion. The results of our interviews with five physics-chemistry teachers show that they do not use open-ended problems. They recognized the positive impact of open-ended problems on long-term memory for better learning, unlike closed-ended problems. Teachers themselves must be trained in open-ended problem-based teaching, whose resolution is done through modeling. This dual epistemological and didactic dimension promotes learning in the context of the competency-based approach (CA).  Article visualizations

ATTITUDES D’ELEVES ET ELEVES-MAITRES ENVERS LES SCIENCES PHYSIQUES ET CHIMIQUES ET APPROPRIATION DE L’APC PAR DES ENSEIGNANTS DU SECONDAIRE / STUDENTS AND STUDENTS-TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD PHYSIC AND CHEMISTRY SCIENCES AND AC APPRIATION BY SECONDARY TEACHERS

Ce travail de recherche a lieu dans un contexte d’innovation curriculaire, marquée par une diminution drastique des effectifs dans les séries scientifiques maliennes comme partout ailleurs. Nous avons donc réalisé une enquête auprès de 600 élèves de Seconde CG (14-15 ans) et 100 élèves-maîtres de 2e année IFM, afin d’identifier leurs rapports aux Sciences physiques et chimiques (SPC), ainsi qu’auprès de 50 enseignants du secondaire sur leur mode d’appropriation de l’APC. Les résultats ont mis en évidence une relation entre l’attitude négative et les sujets d’évaluation de la part de 52% et 85%, respectivement des élèves et élèves-maîtres enquêtés. Ces pourcentages défavorables envers les SPC, qui sont les plus élevés parmi nos résultats, peuvent être minimisés par l’application correcte de l’Approche Par Compétence (APC), non encore effective par manque de formation des enseignants ; car 56,5% des élèves de seconde CG sont désireux de poursuivre en 1re Science.  This research takes place in a context of curricular innovation, marked by a drastic decrease in enrollments in Malian science programs as elsewhere. We conducted a survey of 600 Seconde CG students (14-15 years old) and 100 student-teachers in their 2nd year of IFM to identify their relationships with Physical and Chemical Sciences (PCS), as well as 50 secondary school teachers on their mode of appropriation of the APC. The results highlighted a relationship between negative attitude and evaluation topics among 52% and 85%, respectively, of the surveyed students and student-teachers. These unfavorable percentages towards PCS, which are the highest among our results, can be minimized by the correct application of the Competency-based Approach (CA), which is not yet effective due to lack of teacher training; because 56.5% of high school 1st year students are willing to pursue in 2nd year Sciences.  Article visualizations

Polio Surge Capacity Support Program Contributions to Building Country Capacities in Support of Polio Outbreak Preparedness and Response: Lessons Learned and Remaining Challenges

Despite coordinated efforts at global level, through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), poliomyelitis disease (Polio) is still a major public health issue. The wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and new circulations of the WPV1 were confirmed in southeast Africa in 2021, in Malawi and Mozambique. The circulating vaccine derived polioviruses (cVDPV) are also causing outbreaks worldwide. The Task Force for Global Health (TFGH)’s Polio Surge Capacity Support Program, established in 2019, is an effort to reinforce the existing partnership with the GPEI to strengthen countries’ capacities for polio outbreak preparedness and response. In four years, its coordinated efforts with GPEI partners have resulted in a remarkable improvement in the early detection of poliovirus circulation and reducing the missed children gaps in many countries. However, these encouraging results cannot hide an increasingly complex programmatic environment with numerous funding and operational challenges

Additional file 1: of Risk factors for schistosomiasis in an urban area in northern Côte d’Ivoire

Multilingual abstracts in the six official working languages of the United Nations. (PDF 594 kb

Impact of climate variability on the transmission risk of malaria in northern Côte d'Ivoire.

Since the 1970s, the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire has experienced considerable fluctuation in its meteorology including a general decrease of rainfall and increase of temperature from 1970 to 2000, a slight increase of rainfall since 2000, a severe drought in 2004-2005 and flooding in 2006-2007. Such changing climate patterns might affect the transmission of malaria. The purpose of this study was to analyze climate and environmental parameters associated with malaria transmission in Korhogo, a city in northern Côte d'Ivoire. All data were collected over a 10-year period (2004-2013). Rainfall, temperature and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were the climate and environmental variables considered. Association between these variables and clinical malaria data was determined, using negative binomial regression models. From 2004 to 2013, there was an increase in the annual average precipitation (1100.3-1376.5 mm) and the average temperature (27.2°C-27.5°C). The NDVI decreased from 0.42 to 0.40. We observed a strong seasonality in these climatic variables, which resembled the seasonality in clinical malaria. An incremental increase of 10 mm of monthly precipitation was, on average, associated with a 1% (95% Confidence interval (CI): 0.7 to 1.2%) and a 1.2% (95% CI: 0.9 to 1.5%) increase in the number of clinical malaria episodes one and two months later respectively. A 1°C increase in average monthly temperature was, on average, associated with a decline of a 3.5% (95% CI: 0.1 to 6.7%) in clinical malaria episodes. A 0.1 unit increase in monthly NDVI was associated with a 7.3% (95% CI: 0.8 to 14.1%) increase in the monthly malaria count. There was a similar increase for the preceding-month lag (6.7% (95% CI: 2.3% to 11.2%)). The study results can be used to establish a malaria early warning system in Korhogo to prepare for outbreaks of malaria, which would increase community resilience no matter the magnitude and pattern of climate change