Is religious affiliation associated with parent disciplinary behavior in Suriname and Guyana.

BACKGROUND: Although limited, there is some evidence that certain physical punishments may vary by household religion. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether parent disciplinary behavior varies by religious affiliation in two countries which have large, diverse religious groups. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys for Suriname (2018) and Guyana (2019-20), which contain nationally representative household samples, were used. The study was restricted to the three most prevalent religious groups: Christians, Hindus, and Muslims. METHODS: Adult responses to a standardized survey that included questions about use of disciplinary behaviors in the household towards children (aged 1-14 years) were examined in relation to religious affiliation of the head-of-household and multiple covariates. RESULTS: Of the 3518 Suriname households, 62.4 %, 23.3 % and 14.3 % were Christians, Hindus, and Muslims, respectively. Compared to Christians, children in both Hindu and Muslim households had significantly lower odds of being hit with an object in adjusted logistic regression models. However, only Hindus had lower odds of being spanked and Muslims lower odds of exposure to a combined physical and non-physical practice, compared to Christians. Of the 2535 Guyana households, 69.5 %, 23.5 % and 7.0 % were Christians, Hindus, and Muslims, respectively. Children in Hindu, but not Muslim households, had significantly lower odds of being spanked, hit with an object, and exposed to a combine practice in adjusted models compared to Christians. CONCLUSIONS: Partial support was found for a potential influence of religion on some disciplinary behaviors. Further investigation is warranted to identify possible conditions and mechanisms.

Group A streptococcus isolated in Guyana with reduced susceptibility to ß-lactam antibiotics.

Introduction. Streptococcus pyogenes [group A streptococci (GAS)] is the causative agent of pharyngitis and various other syndromes involving cellulitis, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), and necrotising fasciitis. Although the prevalence of GAS infections globally remains high, necessitating the widespread use of ß-lactam antibiotics, GAS have remained largely susceptible to these agents. However, there have been several reports of GAS with reduced susceptibility harbouring mutations in genes for penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). The objectives of this study were to examine the in vitro ß-lactam susceptibility patterns of group A streptococci, determine the prevalence of drug resistance, and ascertain whether such resistance could be attributed to mutations in specific PBP genes. Methods. In this study, we sought to use Sanger sequencing to identify mutations in PBP genes of Streptococcus pyogenes isolated from patients that required inpatient and outpatient care that could confer reduced PBP affinity for penicillin and/or cephalosporin antibiotics. All isolates were screened for susceptibility to penicillin, amoxicillin, and cefazolin using E-test strips. Results. While there were no documented cases of reduced susceptibility to penicillin or amoxicillin, 13 isolates had reduced susceptibility to cefazolin. Examination of pbp1a by Sanger sequencing revealed several isolates with single amino acid substitutions, which could potentially reduce the affinity of PBP 1A for cefazolin and possibly other first-generation cephalosporins. Conclusion. Penicillin and penicillin-derived antibiotics remain effective treatment options for GAS infections, but active surveillance is needed to monitor for changes to susceptibility patterns against these and other antibiotics and understand the genetic mechanisms contributing to them.

Prioritization of zoonoses of wildlife origin for multisectoral one health collaboration in Guyana, 2022.

Background: The human population in Guyana, located on the South American continent, is vulnerable to zoonotic diseases due to an appreciable reliance on Neotropical wildlife as a food source and for trade. An existing suboptimal health surveillance system may affect the effective monitoring of important zoonotic diseases. To effectively address this deficit, a One Health zoonotic disease prioritization workshop was conducted to identify nationally significant zoonoses. Methods: Prioritization of zoonotic diseases was conducted for the first time in Guyana & Caribbean region using literature review, prioritization criteria and a risk prioritization tool in combination with a consultative One Health workshop. This involved multisectoral experts from varied disciplines of social, human, animal, and environmental health to prioritize zoonotic diseases using a modified semi-quantitative One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization (OHZDP) tool. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to pathogen hazards in existence among wildlife in Guyana during the hazard identification phase. Results: In total, fifty zoonoses were chosen for prioritization. Based on their weighted score, prioritized diseases were ranked in order of relative importance using a one-to-five selection scale. In Guyana, this zoonotic disease prioritization method is the first significant step toward bringing together specialists from the fields of human, animal, and environmental health. Following discussion of the OHZDP Tool output among disease experts, a final zoonotic disease list, including tuberculosis, leptospirosis, gastroenteritis, rabies, coronavirus, orthopoxvirus, viral hemorrhagic fevers, and hepatitis were identified as the top eight priority zoonoses in Guyana. Conclusions: This represents the first prioritization of nationally significant zoonotic diseases in Guyana and the English-speaking Caribbean. This One Health strategy to prioritize these eight zoonoses of wildlife origin is a step that will support future tracking and monitoring for disease prevalence among humans and wildlife and can be used as a decision-making guide for policymakers and stakeholders in Guyana.

An Internal Medicine Learning Collaborative Facilitating a Virtual Continuing Medical Education Program in Guyana and the Wider Caribbean During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: To collaborate and share medical knowledge between US and Caribbean physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic via a free online continuing medical education (CME) series.  Method: This was a multi-institution collaborative effort between the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center and Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, both located in North Carolina, USA, and its Caribbean partners, the Guyana Medical Council and Ministry of Health, and the University of the West Indies Medical Alumni Association, Jamaica. The lecture series ran from July 2021 to October 2022. The Zoom (Zoom Video Communications Inc., San Jose, CA, USA) meeting platform was used for the monthly lectures on the fourth Thursday between 7 and 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).  Results: Analysis of program data from July 2021 through October 2022 (excluding December 2021) found 1,105 unique individuals engaged in the 15 continuing education sessions. The series had a cumulative total of 2,411 participants, with a mean session participation of 161 and a range of 94 to 299 participants per lecture. An outcome survey assessing the reasons for attendance identified that the most significant factors in their participation in the series were: a) the quality of educational content (83.21%), b) the ease of access and Zoom platform (81.76%), and c) the lectures being offered at no cost (61.31%), and 80.84% gained new medical knowledge leading to practice changes.  Conclusion: The Internal Medicine Learning Collaborative (IMLC) model can be easily replicated by following the steps outlined. It overcomes barriers such as travel and quarantine restrictions and is cost-effective to initiate and maintain. It allows physicians with access to resources and specialty training in the United States to share medical knowledge with colleagues in the developing world where such access may be limited, thus promoting health care and continuing education activity in their respective regions using freely available technologies.

Temporal and spatial dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum clonal lineages in Guyana.

Plasmodium parasites, the causal agents of malaria, are eukaryotic organisms that obligately undergo sexual recombination within mosquitoes. However, in low transmission settings where most mosquitoes become infected with only a single parasite clone, parasites recombine with themselves, and the clonal lineage is propagated rather than broken up by outcrossing. We investigated whether stochastic/neutral factors drive the persistence and abundance of Plasmodium falciparum clonal lineages in Guyana, a country with relatively low malaria transmission, but the only setting in the Americas in which an important artemisinin resistance mutation (pfk13 C580Y) has been observed. To investigate whether this clonality was potentially associated with the persistence and spatial spread of the mutation, we performed whole genome sequencing on 1,727 Plasmodium falciparum samples collected from infected patients across a five-year period (2016-2021). We characterized the relatedness between each pair of monoclonal infections (n=1,409) through estimation of identity by descent (IBD) and also typed each sample for known or candidate drug resistance mutations. A total of 160 clones (mean IBD ≥ 0.90) were circulating in Guyana during the study period, comprising 13 highly related clusters (mean IBD ≥ 0.40). In the five-year study period, we observed a decrease in frequency of a mutation associated with artemisinin partner drug (piperaquine) resistance (pfcrt C350R) and limited co-occurence of pfcrt C350R with duplications of plasmepsin 2/3, an epistatic interaction associated with piperaquine resistance. We additionally report polymorphisms exhibiting evidence of selection for drug resistance or other phenotypes and reported a novel pfk13 mutation (G718S) as well as 61 nonsynonymous substitutions that increased markedly in frequency. However, P. falciparum clonal dynamics in Guyana appear to be largely driven by stochastic factors, in contrast to other geographic regions. The use of multiple artemisinin combination therapies in Guyana may have contributed to the disappearance of the pfk13 C580Y mutation.

Clinical utility of depression measures and symptoms: Implications for suicide risk assessment in high risk, resource limited youth populations.

OBJECTIVE: Suicide risk for youth in resource- limited settings has been largely underrepresented in the literature and requires targeted examination of practical ways to address this growing public health concern. The present study focuses on the clinical utility of depression risk assessment tools addressing how and for whom suicide prevention intervention is most beneficial within a low-middle-income-country, high suicide risk youth sample. METHODS: Youth who reported a previous suicide attempt versus those who did not were criterion to test the validity of depression and hopelessness symptom assessment tools. We used item analyses to identify depressive symptom endorsements that most informed youth suicide risk, which will better equip rural practitioners for targeted intervention and monitoring of youth with an already high risk for suicide. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that practitioners may target symptoms of social anhedonia, depressed mood, concentration disturbance, feelings of worthlessness, sleep disturbance, and fatigue for suicide prevention-intervention efforts among high-risk youth. CONCLUSIONS: Study implications are for clinicians' use of the BDI-II and CES-D for depression symptom identification and suicide risk monitoring in settings with limited mental health infrastructure.

Greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum production in Guyana: An examination of the implications for the country's net carbon sink status.

The emerging petroleum production sector has been positively impacting Guyana's economic prospects while contributing to an anticipated increase in the country's greenhouse gas emissions. This article presents a case study that adopts a convergent mixed methods approach. The methods selected for data collection consisted of in-depth interviews, document review and quantitative analysis to examine the implications of the GHG emissions from Guyana's emerging petroleum production sector for the country's net carbon sink status. The article explores measures to enable Guyana to remain a net carbon sink. The study reveals that fugitive emissions were the highest component of greenhouse gas emissions, mostly accounted for by flaring and venting from well testing and flaring from conventional petroleum production. The annual GHG emissions from petroleum production for 2025, 2027 and 2030 were 9034, 13,397 and 20,516 kilotons of CO2e, respectively. Moreover, the combination of the emissions from the oil and gas production and those from three scenarios of growth in Guyana's energy sector, the total annual GHG emissions could vary from 4445 kilotons of CO2e by 2025 to the largest amount of 24,888 kilotons of CO2e by 2030 across various scenarios and conditions. Further, the highest total GHG emissions for 2025 would be 11,015 kilotons CO2e compared to a sequestration rate of 154,060 kilotons CO2 (7%) for 2025. In 2027, the highest total GHG emissions would be 16,234 kilotons CO2e as compared to a sequestration rate of 153,860 kilotons CO2 (11%). No negative implication for Guyana's net carbon sink is projected. However, Guyana should review, update and implement policies to mitigate GHG emissions and offset unavoidable ones. This research highlights the efforts of Guyana to adopt a development path that seeks to fulfil obligations to the UNFCCC and the Paris Accord while improving the social and economic well-being of its citizens.

Avicennia germinans leaf traits in degraded, restored, and natural mangrove ecosystems of Guyana.

Mangrove leaves have unique features that enable them to cope with shifting environmental conditions while preserving their general functionality and efficiency. We examined the morphological characteristics and chlorophyll content (spectroscopically) of 600 mature Avicennia germinans leaves selected from 30 trees located in one degraded, one restored, and one natural mangrove ecosystem along Guyana's coastline. Systematic sampling was carried out using the closest individual sampling method in the wet and dry seasons. We hypothesized that both habitat type and seasonality influence the leaf traits and chlorophyll content of A. germinans. Our findings showed that A. germinans leaves are mesophyllous, and traits such as leaf perimeter, area, length, width, dry mass, wet mass, turgid mass, leaf-specific area, and relative water content showed fluctuations in ecosystems (one-way ANOVA, p < .05) as well as seasonally (paired t-test, p < .05). Substantial, positive correlations (p < .05, R > .75) were also established for over 10 leaf parameters in both seasons while PCA and multiple regression analyses further confirmed the strong relationships between leaf morphological features and their respective locations. Changes in chlorophyll concentration were most noticeable in the degraded ecosystem while variations in leaf traits were more pronounced in the restored mangrove area. This may be due to the various disturbances found in each ecosystem coupled with fluctuations in the seasons. Our results demonstrate that mangroves, to some extent, alter their plant structures to cope with environmental stressors present in the various ecosystems they thrive in to maintain their survival.

Reconciling a Broken Heritage: Developing Mental Health Social Work in Guyana.

Guyana's colonial past has left a trail of economic instability, racial polarization, and physical and mental trauma. Despite the progress made since Guyana's independence in 1966, the remnants of this colonial past continue to shape present-day Guyana. As a result, violence and trauma continue to impact the mental health of the population. This is manifest in endemic problems of domestic violence and racialized social divisions which have created the conditions for rates of suicide which are amongst the highest in the world. The formal mental health provision which exists in Guyana is based primarily on an individualized and largely biomedical model of care. Despite valuable attempts to develop this provision, the difficulty of physically accessing this for some people and the stigma which surround this means that the capacity of this system to address the serious problems which exist is limited. It is also the case that in times of emotional and psychic distress, and in the context of Guyana being a very religious country, many people turn to traditional supernatural healers and remedies for support. In this paper, we discuss what is known as "Obeah", noting that while this is widely practiced, it remains something of a taboo subject in Guyana. We consider the reasons why these practices and beliefs continue to be influential. However, what neither these biomedical or supernatural perceptions of mental health are able to address is the sociogenic nature of Guyana's mental health issues, which we argue emerges out of the historic trauma of Guyana's experience of colonialism and the violence which it engendered. We argue that profound forms of mental distress which exist in Guyana call for an integrative and holistic practice model that contextualizes these problems through a sociogenic lens. Social workers, working collaboratively with other health-related professions, can occupy a critical role in integrating these different conceptions through developing a rights-based model of mental health where the causes of mental ill-health are understood as socially determined.

Pesticides and passion: a qualitative psychological autopsy study of suicide in Guyana.

Background: The suicide rate in Guyana has consistently ranked in the top ten globally, yet there is only limited literature related to the context in which these suicides occur. This study aims to better understand the psychosocial circumstances and characteristics of suicides in Guyana. Methods: This case series study utilised a qualitative psychological autopsy method. One to three informants per deceased person (N = 31) were interviewed regarding the lives of 20 Guyanese who died by suicide (14 M, 6 F, aged 10-74 years). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was utilised for the data. Findings: Four superordinate themes were identified: Interpersonal Conflict, Trauma, Health, and Unknown Reasons. Interpersonal conflict included subordinate themes of Domestic Abuse, Marital Separation, and Financial Disputes. Health included subordinate themes of Physical Health and Mental Health. Pesticide poisoning was the method used by Guyanese people whose suicide was triggered primarily by interpersonal conflict. Interpretation: The findings illustrate the complexities of suicide in Guyana and the importance of adopting a biopsychosocial perspective to suicide prevention. Suicide prevention should include mental health and suicide literacy training of medical professionals. It is recommended that the importation of highly toxic pesticides be restricted, and that less toxic substitutes be promoted. Convenience sampling, recall bias, and limited informants are limitations of this study. Future research should focus on suicidal behaviour using larger sample sizes. Funding: This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship through Griffith University Australia.

Fruit and seed traits and vertebrate-fruit interactions of tree species occurring in Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

Seed dispersal is widely considered an important mechanism for the conservation of plant diversity. In tropical regions, over 80% of woody plant species are dispersed by vertebrates, often through the consumption of fruits. Our understanding of what drives interactions between vertebrates and fruits is limited. Through a systematic literature search, we compiled a database of fruit and seed traits and vertebrate-fruit interactions for tree and vertebrate species occurring in the Guianas, with the aim of facilitating research into seed dispersal and seed predation of tree species in the Guianas. The database was compiled by extracting data from 264 published sources. It consists of 21,082 records, of which 19,039 records contain information about 19 different fruit and seed traits belonging to 1622 different tree species. The other 2043 records contain information on vertebrate-fruit interactions between 161 vertebrate species and 464 tree species. Our analyses showed a taxonomic bias, particularly in the interaction data, toward large-bodied vertebrates, with most interactions recorded for the bearded saki (Chiropotes chiropotes), followed by the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris). For plants we found an overrepresentation of the Sapotaceae and Moraceae families and an underrepresentation of the Rubiaceae, Myrtaceae, and Lauraceae families in the interactions. There are no copyright restrictions on the data set; please cite this publication when using these data.

Bird communities across different levels of human settlement: A comparative analysis from two northern Amazonian ecoregions.

Urban ecosystems are increasingly dominating landscapes globally, so it is critical to understand the effects of human settlements on biodiversity. Bird communities are effective indicators because they are impacted by the size and expansion of human settlements, exemplified by changes in their habitat use, breeding and foraging behaviours, as well as patterns of richness and abundance. Existing studies on bird community responses to human settlements have mainly focused on single ecoregions and large cities, leaving a gap in comparative research on how differently sized human settlements affect bird communities across various ecoregions. To address this gap, we examine species richness, bird abundances and community composition in human settlements, which exhibit variable sizes, populations, landscape configurations, and overall intensity of settlement in two tropical ecoregions in Guyana, Amazonia: forest and savannah. In each ecoregion we explored how different groupings of urban tolerance in birds responded to human settlements of differing population size and building densities. Overall, we found significant differences in bird communities across the varying levels of human settlement intensity in both ecoregions, with greater differences in bird community composition in the forest ecoregion than the savannah region. In both ecoregions, species richness and abundance were highest at the medium level of settlement of human settlement. Our findings suggest that bird tolerance to human settlements varies based on ecoregion and site-level factors. In the savannah, built features may be benefitting birds from all urban tolerance levels, but they have a negative impact on less urban-tolerant species in the forest ecoregion. Our comparative analysis reveals for the first time that the impact of human settlements on avian communities in northern Amazonia varies among ecoregions, indicating that species evolved to live in a savannah may be more tolerant to human settlements than those more evolved to a forest system.

The Guyana Program to Advance Cardiac Care: A Model for Equitable Cardiovascular Care Delivery.

Guyana is one of the poorest countries in South America, with the highest rate of cardiovascular mortality on the continent. As is the case in many low- and middle-income countries, cardiovascular care is available through the private sector but is not accessible to much of the urban and rural poor. We present the 10-year experience of the Guyana Program to Advance Cardiac Care (GPACC), an academic partnership aiming to provide high-quality, equitable cardiovascular care in Georgetown's only public hospital. We discuss the implementation of a cardiac care program using the World Health Organization Framework for Action, outlining vital components for care delivery in resource-limited settings. GPACC was able to demonstrate that targeted investment, education of clinicians, and cohesive healthcare delivery strategies can contribute to sustainable service delivery for Guyana's largest burden of disease. This structured approach may provide lessons for implementation of similar programs in other resource-limited settings. Highlights: In many LMICs, specialized cardiovascular care is available in the private, but not public, sector.The WHO Framework for Action can guide development of sustainable programs in low-resource settings.GPACC can serve as a successful and innovative model for delivery of sustainable cardiovascular care.

Identifying access barriers faced by rural and dispersed communities to better address their needs: implications and lessons learned for rural proofing for health in the Americas and beyond.

INTRODUCTION: Universal access to health services and universal health coverage are needed to achieve good health for all, yet rural communities face a variety of access barriers. As part of an effort to 'rural proof' health systems, it is therefore imperative to identify and act on the factors limiting access to health services by rural and indigenous communities. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the wide range of access barriers faced by rural and remote communities in two countries where barrier assessments were conducted. It also discusses the potential for barrier assessments to contribute evidence for rural proofing of national health policies, strategies, plans and programs. METHODS: The study applied a concurrent triangulation design to collect and analyze data obtained from narrative-style literature reviews, in-depth interviews with local health authorities, and secondary analyses of existing household data on Guyana and Peru. These two countries were selected because they have some of the largest rural and indigenous populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and have national policies in place for providing free, essential health services for these communities. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected separately, and results were interpreted together. The main objective was to corroborate and cross-validate findings looking for convergence between the separate data analyses. RESULTS: Seven dominant themes were identified across the two countries: use of traditional medicine and practice; decision making, gender, and family power dynamics; ethnicity and trust; knowledge and health literacy; geographic accessibility, health personnel and intercultural skills; and financial accessibility. The findings suggest that the interaction between these barriers may be as important as the singular role played by each factor, thereby highlighting the complex and multifactorial nature of accessing services in rural settings. Issues with limited availability of human resources for health were compounded by inadequate supplies and infrastructure. Financial barriers were often linked to the indirect costs of transport and geographic location, and further exacerbated by reduced socioeconomic status of rural communities, a majority of which are indigenous and have a strong preference for traditional medicines. Importantly, rural and indigenous communities experience considerable non-financial barriers related to issues of acceptability, which requires adaptation of health personnel and health service delivery models to the context-specific needs and realities of each rural community. CONCLUSION: This study presented an approach for data collection and analysis that is both feasible and effective for evaluating access barriers in rural and remote communities. While this study explored access barriers through general health services in two rural settings, the issues identified reflect the structural deficiencies of many health systems. These challenges and singularities require adaptive organizational models for the provision of health services that respond to the specific characteristics of rural and indigenous communities. This study indicates the potential relevance of conducting assessments of barriers to health services as part of a wider approach to rural proofing and supports the notion that a mixed-methods approach, linking secondary analysis of existing relevant national survey data with focused key-informant interview data, may be an effective and efficient way to transform data into the knowledge policymakers need to rural proof health policies.

Factors associated with prostate cancer screening among Indo-Guyanese men.

INTRODUCTION: Health screening is considered a vital intervention in public health practices. Despite the strong emphasis on the need for preventative health screenings, little attention is focused on many immigrant populations. Indo-Guyanese immigrants are one of the ethnically minoritized populations facing these challenges. This study aims to identify factors associated with the likelihood that Indo-Guyanese men will undergo screening for prostate cancer. METHODS: This study is guided by a mixed-method approach incorporating both quantitative and qualitative analyses. A total of 20 participants were recruited via a snowball technique. Correlation between variables was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27, while the qualitative data underwent a rigorous process of analysis and interpretation. RESULTS: Education, income, understanding of risk factors, and considering self at risk were positively correlated with screening. Knowledge of prostate cancer and knowledge of the screening process was negatively correlated with screening. CONCLUSION: Immigrant health has a significant impact on the U.S. public health system. Timely identification of potential barriers and providing culturally competent solutions and services will ensure a safe and healthy nation.

[Sacroiliitis with Erysipelothrix Rhusiopathiae revealing tricuspid endocarditis, the first case reported on the Guiana Shield: clinical case and review of the literature]. / Sacro-Iliite à Erysipelothrix Rhusiopathiae révélant une endocardite tricuspide, premier cas rapporté sur le bouclier des Guyanes : cas clinique et revue de la littérature.

We report here an atypical case of acute sacroiliitis caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae revealing tricuspid endocarditis in a 53-year-old woman without medical history. She was admitted to Cayenne hospital because of intense right hip and thigh pain, associated with fever. A right sacroiliitis was visible on the computed tomography (CT) scan, confirmed on MRI. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a large mobile tricuspid vegetation. Blood cultures were positive for E. rhusiopathiae. CT scan showed pulmonary alveolar opacities, consistent with septic emboli. Clinical improvement was obtained under ceftriaxone followed by ciprofloxacin for 6 weeks of treatment. We present a review of bone and joint infections caused by E. rhusiopathiae. So far, not a single case has been reported in Latin America.

Detecting gold mining impacts on insect biodiversity in a tropical mining frontier with SmallSat imagery.

Gold mining is a major driver of Amazonian forest loss and degradation. As mining activity encroaches on primary forest in remote and inaccessible areas, satellite imagery provides crucial data for monitoring mining-related deforestation. High-resolution imagery, in particular, has shown promise for detecting artisanal gold mining at the forest frontier. An important next step will be to establish relationships between satellite-derived land cover change and biodiversity impacts of gold mining. In this study, we set out to detect artisanal gold mining using high-resolution imagery and relate mining land cover to insects, a taxonomic group that accounts for the majority of faunal biodiversity in tropical forests. We applied an object-based image analysis (OBIA) to classify mined areas in an Indigenous territory in Guyana, using PlanetScope imagery with ~3.7 m resolution. We complemented our OBIA with field surveys of insect family presence or absence in field plots (n = 105) that captured a wide range of mining disturbances. Our OBIA was able to identify mined objects with high accuracy (>90% balanced accuracy). Field plots with a higher proportion of OBIA-derived mine cover had significantly lower insect family richness. The effects of mine cover on individual insect taxa were highly variable. Insect groups that respond strongly to mining disturbance could potentially serve as bioindicators for monitoring ecosystem health during and after gold mining. With the advent of global partnerships that provide universal access to PlanetScope imagery for tropical forest monitoring, our approach represents a low-cost and rapid way to assess the biodiversity impacts of gold mining in remote landscapes.

Exposure to Electronic Media, Smoking and Alcohol Drinking Among Guyanese Adults.

Use of electronic media has been shown to be associated with tobacco and alcohol consumption behavior among adult population. Currently, not much is known about the risk factors of tobacco and alcohol consumption in Guyana. The present study aimed to explore the association between exposure to electronic media and tobacco and alcohol consumption by adjusting for the sociodemographic correlates. Methods: Data were obtained from the sixth round of Guyana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2019-20). Sample population were 2,208 men and 5,872 women aged between 15 and 49 years. Outcome variables were self-reported lifetime use of tobacco and alcohol, and the main explanatory variables were the use of electronic media such as internet, television and radio. Data were analyzed using descriptive and multivariable regression analysis in Stata version 17. Results: Overall, 55.5% (95% CI = 53.4, 57.6) men and 44.5% (95% CI = 42.4, 46.6) women reported ever smoking tobacco, while the percentage of ever drinking alcohol was 34.2% (95% CI = 32.9, 35.4) and 65.8% (95% CI = 64.6, 67.1) among men and women, respectively. Internet users had significantly higher odds of ever consuming tobacco and alcohol, however, the association was not uniform across the sociodemographic variables. For smoking, the positive association with internet use was observed for women only (OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.59), whereas, for alcohol consumption the association with internet use was significantly positive among both men (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.58, 2.09) and women (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.22, 2.70). Men and women who ever tried alcohol drinking had (OR = 4.64, 95% CI = 3.16, 6.82) and (OR = 10.62, 95% CI = 7.83, 14.40) times higher odds of trying tobacco smoking. Conclusion: Current findings indicate over a quarter of the participants reported ever smoking tobacco and more than three-fifths ever drinking alcohol. Electronic media use, especially that of internet, is a strong predictor of tobacco and alcohol consumption among Guyanese adults. Results also revealed a strong interrelation between alcohol and tobacco smoking, and suggesting that strengthening the tobacco prevention programs may reduce the prevalence of alcohol drinking as well.

Malaria care-seeking and treatment ideation among gold miners in Guyana.

BACKGROUND: Although miners are a priority population in malaria elimination in Guyana, scant literature exists on the drivers of malaria-related behaviour. This study explores the relationship between gold miners' malaria-related ideation and the adoption of malaria care-seeking and treatment behaviours including prompt care-seeking, malaria testing, and self-medication. METHODS: Data are from a cross-sectional quantitative survey of 1685 adult miners between the ages of 18-59 years who live in mining camps in Regions 1, 7, and 8. The analysis focused on miners who reported an episode of fever in the past year (n = 745). Malaria care-seeking and treatment ideation was defined as a composite additive score consisting of the following variables: general malaria knowledge, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, beliefs, perceived self-efficacy, perceived norms, interpersonal communication, and perceived response efficacy. Multivariable logistic regressions explored the relationship between ideation on care-seeking/treatment behaviours, controlling for confounding variables. RESULTS: Most miners with a recent episode of fever had perceived risk (92%), self-efficacy (67%), susceptibility (53%) and high malaria knowledge (53%). Overall, miners' care-seeking/treatment ideation score ranged from 0 to 8 with a mean of 4.1. Ideation scores were associated with higher odds of care-seeking for fever (aOR: 1.19; 95% CI 1.04-1.36), getting tested for malaria (aOR: 1.22; 95% CI 1.07-1.38) and lower odds of self-medication (aOR: 0.87; 95% CI 0.77-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: A national community case management initiative is using study findings as part of its scale-up, using volunteers to make testing and treatment services more accessible to miners. This is complemented by a multi-channel mass media campaign to improve miners' ideation. Communication messages focus on increasing miners' knowledge of malaria transmission and symptoms, encourage positive beliefs about malaria testing and volunteer testers, promote evidence about the effectiveness of testing, and reminders of how quick and easy it is to get a malaria test with the community case management initiative. Study findings also have implications for efforts to eliminate malaria across the Guiana Shield.

[The oncology residency program in French overseas]. / L'internat d'oncologie en outre-mer français.

Once his specialty has been chosen, and according to his ranking, the new resident in oncology decides on the subdivision in which he wishes to be among the 28 existing subdivisions. Two concern overseas departments and territories: the Antilles-Guyana subdivision and the Indian Ocean subdivision. The oncology residency has its own particularities because of the demographic characteristics and epidemiology of cancers in these areas, but also because of a particular organization of care and university teaching. The training of residents in these subdivisions is little known. Over the past ten years, most of the residents have been trained in oncology-radiotherapy in these subdivisions and some of them in medical oncology. The residency program is however experiencing a revival in terms of university education in parallel with the development of technical and human equipment in the centres of these regions. This article details the training of residents in oncology in French overseas territories by contextualizing it with epidemiological data and the characteristics of the oncology care offer in these territories.