Adolescent­parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues amongst secondary school students in Western Region 1 of The Gambia

Background: Adolescent­parent communication about sexual issues is a challenging issue worldwide. In The Gambia, many traditional communities limit such communication and this can have an adverse influence on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes and behaviours in adolescents. Aim: The study assessed adolescent­parent communication on selected SRH issues amongst secondary school students. Setting: The study was conducted in selected secondary schools in Western Region 1 of The Gambia. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study utilised mixed methods. For the questionnaire survey, secondary school students were selected using a multistage sampling technique whilst parents for focus group discussions were purposively selected. Results: A total of 600 adolescents and 48 parents were studied. Only 360 (60.0%) of the students had heard of SRH. One-third (67.3%) knew about sexually transmitted infection (STIs) such as human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (56.5%), gonorrhoea (40.5%) and syphilis (2.5%). Social media (31.0%) were the predominant source of information regarding SRH issues, followed by television (22.0%), school (14.0%) and parents (9.0%). Half (50.8%) of the adolescents discussed sexual intercourse with their parents ­ mostly with their mothers. Parental and cultural factors, fear, shyness and ignorance were the main reasons why adolescents did not discuss specific SRH issues with their parents. Conclusion: This study showed that adolescent­parent communication on SRH issues was poor. Programmes supporting parents to effectively communicate SRH matters with their children should be designed and implemented

Knowledge of sexually transmitted infections amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in west coast region of the Gambia

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) during pregnancy remain a public health concern especially in developing countries including The Gambia. This study assessed the knowledge of STIs and its associated factors amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in West Coast region of The Gambia. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. Two hundred and eighty pregnant women attending antenatal care in Brikama District Hospital, Brikama, and Bandung Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Bandung, who gave their consent, participated in this study. The instrument for data collection was an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS for Windows, version 21.0. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05. All the respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS and their main source of information was from health care providers. However, most of them 263 (93.9%) had poor knowledge of STIs. Level of education (p < 0.001) and employment status (p = 0.001) had significant association with level of knowledge of STIs. This study also identified low level of education [AOR: 0.04 (95% CI: 0.01 ­ 0.35)], and unemployment [AOR:21.97 (95% CI: 1.57 ­ 306.65)] as statistically significant predictors of low level of knowledge of STIs amongst the respondents. There is need for mass media campaigns and other public health measures aimed at increasing knowledge of STIs as this will herald effective intervention strategies towards the prevention of STIs

Primer reporte de necrólisis epidérmica tóxica por antibiótico oral en Gambia / First report of toxic epidermal necrolysis due to oral antibiotic in Gambia

Las reacciones adversas medicamentosas más frecuentes son las cutáneas, ocurriendo en un 2% de los tratamientos. La mayoría de las veces se alcanza el diagnóstico por exclusión. La más temida es la necrólisis epidérmica tóxica, de la que se presentan anualmente hasta 4 casos por millón de habitantes, con una mortalidad que alcanza en ocasiones hasta el 70 %. El objetivo fue presentar un paciente con necrólisis epidérmica tóxica por lo infrecuente de esta enfermedad, su alta mortalidad y su evolución clínica característica. Paciente gambiano, de 29 años de edad, con antecedentes de salud, que después de comenzar tratamiento ambulatorio con antibiótico oral para una piodermitis facial, presentó lesiones ampollares que se extendieron por todo el cuerpo. El paciente llevó tratamiento de sostén, esteroideo oral, antibiótico de amplio espectro oral, parenteral y tópico; después de una evolución desfavorable de 30 días, fallece. Resultó llamativa la ausencia de lesiones mucosas a pesar de la extensión total de las lesiones cutáneas. Fue difícil el manejo de este paciente en un hospital de periferia sin el arsenal terapéutico adecuado, ni la unidad idónea para su cuidado (AU).

The most frequent drug adverse reactions are the skin ones, occurring in 2 % of the treatments; most of the times the diagnosis is reached by exclusion. The most feared one is the toxic epidermal necrolysis, presenting yearly up to 4 cases per million of inhabitants with a mortality occasionally reaching 70 %. The objective was presenting the case of a patient with toxic epidermal necrolysis because of the rarity of this disease, its high mortality and characteristic clinical evolution. The patient was a Gambian aged 29 years, with health antecedents, who after beginning an outpatient treatment with oral antibiotic for a facial pyodermitis, presented bullous lesions extended throughout all the body. The patient received support treatment, oral steroidal treatment and oral, parenteral and topic treatment with a wide spectrum antibiotic; after a 30-days unfavorable evolution, he died. It was thought-provoking the absence of mucous lesions in spite of the total extension of the skin lesions. It was difficult the management of this patient in a peripheral hospital without the adequate therapeutic arsenal nor the suitable unit for his care (AU).

Modelo de atención a la malnutrición crónica infantil en la región de Upper River, Gambia, según el marco Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions / Attention Model to chronic child malnutrition in the region of Upper River, Gambia, according to the Innovative framework Care for Chronic Conditions / Modelo de atenção à malnutrição crônica infantil na região de Upper River, Gâmbia, segundo o quadro Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions

La malnutrición es uno de los principales problemas de salud pública en la República de Gambia,con un 18 % de la población menor de cinco años afectada. El objetivo de este trabajo esofrecer una descripción y un análisis del conjunto de actores e instituciones y de sus políticase intervenciones involucradas en el abordaje de la malnutrición crónica infantil en la región deUpper River, Gambia. El mapa de atención a la malnutrición infantil se ha realizado a partirde una evaluación del modelo de atención vigente, siguiendo la herramienta Innovative Carefor Chronic Conditions Framework Situation Assessment de la Organización Mundial de laSalud, guiando el análisis por la experiencia profesional en este contexto del autor, y con elapoyo de la bibliografía consultada. Basado en los resultados, a modo de discusión se ofreceuna serie de intervenciones y estrategias de mejora del modelo en sus tres niveles de atencióna la malnutrición infantil...

Malnutrition is a major public health problem in the Republic of Gambia, with 18% of the populationunder five affected. The purpose of this paper is to provide a description and analysis of theset of actors and institutions, their policies and interventions involved in tackling child chronicmalnutrition in the region of Upper River, Gambia. The map of attention to child malnutritionhas been made from an assessment of the current care model, following the tool InnovativeCare for Chronic Conditions Framework Situation Assessment of the World Health Organization,guiding the analysis by professional experience in this context of the author, and with thesupport of the consulted bibliography. Based on the results, a series of interventions and strategiesfor improvement of the model in its three levels of care to child malnutrition is discussed...

A malnutrição é um dos principais problemas de saúde pública na República de Gâmbia, com um18 % da população menor de cinco anos afetada. O objetivo deste trabalho é oferecer descriçãoe análise do conjunto de atores e instituições e das suas políticas e intervenções envolvidasna abordagem da malnutrição crônica infantil na região de Upper River, Gâmbia. O mapa deatenção à malnutrição infantil realizou-se a partir de uma avaliação do modelo de atençãovigente, seguindo a ferramenta Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions Framework SituationAssessment da Organização Mundial da Saúde, guiando a análise pela experiência profissionalneste contexto do autor, e com apoio da bibliografia consultada. Baseado nos resultados, a modode discussão oferece-se uma série de intervenções e estratégias de melhoramento do modeloem seus três níveis de atenção à malnutrição infantil...

Influence of placental malaria infection on foetal outcome in the Gambia: twenty years after Ian Mcgregor.

Malaria infection in pregnancy has serious health consequences among mothers and offspring. The influence of placental malaria infection on foetal outcome was studied in a Gambian rural setting where few pregnant women take antimalarial chemoprophylaxis. During July-December 1997, three hundred thirteen mother-newborn pairs (singletons only) were consecutively recruited into a study of the effects of placental malaria infection on the outcome of pregnancy. Placental blood and tissue were collected at delivery. Babies were clinically assessed until discharge. The overall prevalence of placental malaria infection was 51.1% by placental histology and 37.1% by blood smear. The primigravid women were more susceptible to placental malaria than the multigravidae (65.3% vs 44.7%, p=0.01). Placental malaria was significantly associated with pre-term deliveryand intrauterine growth retardation (p<0.01), and there was a four-fold risk of delivering low-birth-weight babies if mothers had parasitized placentae [OR=4.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.10-9.27]. A reduction of mean birth-weight of babies by 320 g was associated with placental malaria infection (p<0.001). Similarly, a two-fold risk of stillbirth delivery (OR=2.22, 95% CI 1.04-4.72) was observed among the infected mothers. The findings showed that there was still an overall poor foetal outcome associated with placental malaria infection. The findings of this study confirm the findings of an earlier study by McGregor in the Gambia that the low birth-weight rate is significantly higher if the placenta is parasitized. In addition, this study observed that the high stillbirth and prematurity rates were associated with placental malaria infection. The findings of the present study suggest undertaking of effective malaria-control strategies during pregnancy, such as use of insecticide-impregnated bednets, intermittent and early treatment for malaria, and antimalarial chemoprophylaxis, in the Gambia.

Using routine health statistics in the monitoring and evaluation of primary health care (PHC) activity in Sierra Leone and the Gambia

This paper intends to examine the extent to which the provision of Primary Health Care can be monitored using routine health statistics in Sierra Leone and the Gambia. The content of the paper covers a brief description of the PHC structure and the health information system developed to monitor the activities. The main thrust of the paper is the evaluation of the statistics collected between 1988 and 1991 to assess: the coverage of reporting; disease patterns using case episodes and output statistics based on children immunized and women receiving ante-natal care in each country separately. The concluding section of the paper addresses the possible strengths and weaknesses in the use of health statistics for the monitoring and evaluation of PHC in both countries based on the evidences presented