Retrospective study of alleged sexual assault at the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi.

A retrospective audit of all the rape cases reported at the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi over a two year period was carried out. Out of 37 victims, 86.6% were less than 30 years old and 73.4% did not know who the assailant was. 80% of the victims reported to the hospital within 24 hours of the incident taking place and in 4 (10.8%) of the victims-vaginal swabs grew N. gonorrhoea. None of the victims opted for prosecution and none were referred for further counselling. We recommended that alleged rape victims be seen by a qualified gynaecologist or police surgeon and that they should be examined, investigated and managed by a standard protocol.

PIP: This retrospective study was undertaken to identify the management problems of sexual assault cases as seen at the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi where an ongoing quality assurance program attempts to maintain high standards of medical care. The study reviewed all records of sexual assault victims over a 2-year period. The results showed that all 37 victims were females and majority (89.1%) were aged between 19 and 30 years old. About 73.4% did not know their assailants, 80% reported to the hospital within 24 hours of the incident and 10.8% of the victims manifested Neisseria gonorrhea in their vaginal swabs. None of the victims made attempts to bring the assailants to justice. Although rape victims usually suffer from posttraumatic stress, none of the victims in this study were referred for further counseling. Lastly, this study recommended that sexual assault victims should be examined, investigated, and managed by a standard protocol.

Thalassemia in Bombay: the role of medical genetics in developing countries.

This study of 200 families with thalassaemic children in Bombay showed that these children's treatment and needs place a significant, unavoidable and increasing demand on the public health services. At the same time, owing to the potentially large number of patients and the difficulties of long-term management, the situation is characterized by evasion of the problem, failure of planning, no provisions for prevention, and inadequate treatment leading to premature death among the affected children. The burden on such families is greater in developing than in developed countries because, besides caring for the chronically sick child, their lives are dominated by the high costs of treatment, often amounting to 20-30% of the income for many families. Seven mothers with no healthy children and 27 with only one healthy child had been sterilized; 90% of reproductive-age couples felt that prenatal diagnosis was a necessity. Also, ignorance and prejudice in the community led to social isolation for forty families. The experience in Europe shows that improved treatment is the key step in controlling thalassaemia. A well-organized day-transfusion service is cost-effective, soon restoring the children to health and leading to increased optimism. The formation of associations by parents could mobilize community support for improved treatment and prevention, and increase public awareness of the problem. Thus cost-effective management and prevention through screening, genetic counselling, and prenatal diagnosis are at least as important in the developing as in developed countries.

Thalassaemia in Bombay: The role of medical genetics in developing countries

This study of 200 families with thalassaemic children in Bombay showed that these children's treatment and needs place a significant, unavoidable and increasing demand on the public health services. At the same time, owing to the potentially large number of patients and the difficulties of long-term management, the situation is characterized by evasion of the problem, failure of planing, no provisions for prevention, and inadequate treatment leading to premature death among the affected children. The burden on such families is greater in developing than in developed countries because, besides caring for the chronically sick child, their lives are dominated by the high cost of treatment, often amounting to 20-30 per cent of the income for many families. Seven mothers with no healthy children and 27 with only one healthy child had been sterilized; 90 per cent of reproductive-age couples felt that prenatal diagnosis was a necessity. Also, ignorance and prejudice in the community led to social isolation for the forty families

The experience in Europe shows that improved treatment is the key step in controlling thalassaemia. A well-organized day-transfusion service is cost-effective, soon restoring the children to health and leading to increased optimism. The formulation of associations by parents could mobilize ...(AU)

Coronary angioplasty in a patient with dextrocardia.

This report, concerning the procedures applied to a patient with dextrocardia, describes how such a patient was able to undergo a normal diagnostic catheterization. These data should be added to the limited data on interventional procedures in patients who have this anomaly.