Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is a neglected tropical disease with significant reproductive health implications. In endemic regions such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), limited awareness among healthcare professionals contributes to underdiagnosis and mismanagement. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of healthcare personnel regarding FGS in the Mabalako health zone. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 75 healthcare professionals. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices were collected using structured questionnaires. Associations between healthcare professionals’ characteristics and KAP outcomes were analyzed using odds ratios (ORs) with 95
This study investigates the role of technology in school resource management in public elementary schools in Madagascar. The study adopts a qualitative research methodology, utilizing observation, interviews, and documentation as primary data collection techniques. The key informants for this study are 10 school principals from various public elementary schools across Madagascar, selected based on their experience and administrative roles. The findings of this study highlight three critical aspects: first, technology plays a significant role in enhancing school management efficiency, allowing for better planning, communication, and monitoring of school resources. Second, it contributes to the improvement of school archives, with digital records providing easy access, security, and long-term preservation of important school documents. Finally, the study reveals several challenges to technology adoption, including limited digital literacy among staff, inadequate infrastructure, and financial constraints that hinder the full integration of technology in resource management. The study concludes by recommending targeted training programs for school staff, enhanced funding for technological infrastructure, and the development of a clear digital resource management policy tailored to the needs of public elementary schools in Madagascar.
Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Screening is not systematic in blood banks although malaria is endemic in Africa and mainly in Cameroon. The reference diagnostic test for malaria is the thick smear but its performance is complex. More suitable tests for screening malaria in blood banks have been proposed including rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and thick smear drop. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in comparison with thick smear (TS) using thick smear as the reference test. This comparative, descriptive, prospective cross-sectional study took place from January 6, 2023 to June 29, 2023, a period of 6 months at the Yaoundé University Hospital. The target population consisted of volunteer and family blood donors from this hospital who met the selection criteria set by the blood bank. Two hundred volunteers donors were included in the study. The SD Bioline malaria Ag p. f/pan RDT Kit and the Malaria Ag P. f/pan RDT Kit were used to perform the immunochromatographic tests and microscopy was used to read the thick smear and stained smears. The prevalence of asymptomatic malaria carriage in blood donors was 39.5%. Plasmodium falcifarum was the most prevalent species (97.5%) followed by Plasmodium malariae (2.5%), almost half of the donors had parasitemia greater than 200 parasites/μL. The factor that was significantly associated with parasitemia was the absence of use of long-lasting insecticide-treated net (LLIN). Compared with the thick smear as the reference test, both RDTs had a sensitivity of 49.4% and a specificity of 95.06%. The positive predictive value was 84.8% and the negative predictive value 50.6%. The results of this study show that the prevalence of asymptomatic carriage of plasmodium in voluntary blood donors was high, thus constituting a significant risk of transmission of the parasite to recipients often in poor general condition. The thick smear remains the gold standard for the reference technique in the diagnosis of malaria.
Performance in implementing administrative reforms calls for change management systems that aim to help beneficiaries and all other stakeholders take ownership of the results obtained.This performance depends on many factors, including the approach adopted to introduce these reforms and manage the resulting transformations, including their perverse effects, which threaten the well-being of beneficiaries.However, the eminently technicist or managerialist logic of the rational utopian thinking that underpins modernizing reform projects creates a rupture with the real workflow of implementing these reforms.This rupture hypothecates the chances of achieving the organizational performance objectives of these public services.At the same time, these utopias carry with them risks of dystopia that will undermine the confidence of the actors concerned and their belief in the legitimacy of these reforms.We adopt an organizational and public policy analysis perspective, which we apply to the process of organizational change through a realist literature review.The aim is to examine the contribution of the organizational development (OD) approach, as a method for managing organizational change, to improving the performance of administrative reforms by taking into account these undesirable unexpected effects.The article contributes to the actualization of the OD approach as an action-research method.It offers an analysis of the practical and managerial implications of this approach, to meet the challenge of learning and unlearning within organizations, and enable them to evolve from a change management approach to one of managing organizations' capacity to change.
Background: The diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) relies on clinical assessment with digital rectal examination, serum PSA and histological examination. Limitations in our technical facilities, high financial cost of ultrasound-guided biopsy often prevent us from implementing the guidelines on the practice of prostate biopsy. Methods: We conducted a retrospective and cross-sectional descriptive study comparing digital-guided and ultrasound-guided transrectal prostate biopsy of 400 patients over a period of 12 years in the Yaounde Central Hospital. We reviewed files of patients who underwent digital and ultrasound guided biopsy procedures. Data was analyzed using EPI info 7.0. Parametric variables were reported as means and standard deviations and percentages and counts were used to report categorical variables. Results: Out of the 400 patients, 292 digital-guided transrectal biopsies (73%) and 108 ultrasound-guided transrectal biopsies (27%) were performed in patients who were suspected of having prostate cancer (PCa). Patients were aged between 39 to 90 years. Both procedures were effective in identifying prostate cancer. Gleason score between 2 to 10 detected prostate adenocarcinoma for 301 patients (75.2%). The complications included anal pain, rectal bleeding, hematuria and urinary tract infections, with an occurrence rate similar for both ultrasound-guided (2.25%) and digitally-guided techniques (2.5%). Seven patients (1.75%) required hospitalization for management of complications. The mortality rate was null. Conclusion: Both techniques are effective in detecting PCa with the similar complication rates. Digital-guided trans-rectal prostate biopsy still has its place in a resource-limited setting like ours.
