scholarly journals Retinoblastoma in Sub-Saharan Africa: Case Studies of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Lukamba ◽  
Jean-Jacques A. Yao ◽  
Theophile A. Kabesha ◽  
Aleine N. Budiongo ◽  
Ben B. Monga ◽  
...  

Purpose In most low-income countries, the diagnosis of retinoblastoma is delayed, resulting in a severe prognosis. The objectives of this study were to describe the access to diagnosis and care of children diagnosed with retinoblastoma and the challenges in two sub-Saharan African countries: the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Patients and Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from the medical records of patients admitted during the period of January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014. Data were entered and analyzed using Epi Info7.1 software and SAS 9.3. Results One hundred sixteen cases of retinoblastoma were collected, including 60 boys and 56 girls. The median diagnosis age was 3 years for both countries. Ninety-eight patients (84%) had unilateral retinoblastoma. Most of the patients presented with advanced disease (76% had extraocular retinoblastoma). Median time between initial symptoms and diagnosis was 8.5 months (range, 0.4 to 116.7 months). Median time between diagnosis and treatment initiation was 31 days (range, 0 to 751 days). The median cost for the treatment of the disease was estimated at $1,954 per patient. Conclusion Late diagnosis of retinoblastoma, with extraocular disease, occurs frequently in both African countries. It is associated with delay in initiating treatment, and the cost of the treatment remains unaffordable for most of the families. Support groups for parents of affected children and the support of the Franco-African Pediatric Oncology Group remain important in improving early diagnosis and providing treatment in sub-Saharan African countries.

Author(s):  
Lisa Hultman ◽  
Jacob D. Kathman ◽  
Megan Shannon

This chapter explores two conflicts and their related UN missions: Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC and MONUSCO). The chapter conducts qualitative analyses of these missions to explore the effect peacekeeping capacity and constitution on civil war violence, noting the UN’s ability to engage in mechanisms of violence reduction. The conflicts are not two cases of obvious peacekeeping success, and there are clear instances of failure in both UN efforts. However, in many situations, the missions were more effective when capacity and constitution improved, indicating that relative effectiveness increases as UN missions are sufficiently outfitted. The chapter complements the quantitative analyses by highlighting the limits of the theory and the challenges to peacekeeping missions in the midst of war.


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2547 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW J. W. COCK

Partial life histories for eight Afro–tropical Coeliadinae are described and illustrated: Pyrrhochalcia iphis (Drury) (Côte d’Ivoire), Pyrrhiades lucagus (Cramer) (Ghana), P. anchises anchises (Gerstaecker) (Kenya), Coeliades chalybe chalybe (Westwood) (Côte d’Ivoire), C. forestan forestan (Stoll) (Kenya), C. pisistratus (Fabricius) (Kenya), C. sejuncta (Mabille & Vuillot) (Kenya), C. kenya Evans stat. rev. (Kenya). Descriptions of a further six species or subspecies are provided from the literature: P. anchises jucunda (Butler) (Oman), P. aeschylus (Plötz) (Republic of Guinea), P. pansa (Hewitson) (Réunion), C. bixana Evans (Democratic Republic of the Congo), C. libeon (Druce) (Democratic Republic of the Congo), C. keithloa (Wallengren) (South Africa), C. lorenzo Evans stat. rev. (South Africa). Unpublished photographs provided by T.C.E. Congdon illustrate early stages of C. sp. probably fervida (Butler) and C. rama Evans (Madagascar). Notes based on museum material are presented for C. ramanatek (Boisduval). Generalisations are made for the subfamily in Africa and the implications for generic groupings in the subfamily are considered. All except C. libeon are known4 · Zootaxa 2547 © 2010 Magnolia Pressto feed on at least one species of Malpighiaceae, while C. libeon feeds on at species of at least two other families of Malpigiales. A new type of leaf shelter, the four–cut shelter, is introduced, characteristic of African Coeliadinae.


Africa ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwayne Woods

The democratisation process which began in the early 1990s in many sub-Saharan African countries has led to renewed interest in the role of voluntary associations in the shaping of the political and social realms. This article maintains that the most effective way to understand the role of associational politics and developments in Africa is not by postulating what they should do according to Western democratic theory, but through an historical analysis of how associations functioned before the introduction of multi-party competitive elections and putative democratic rules in recent years. In this way it will be possible to attain a richer and more complex under-standing of state–society relations under one-party and military regimes, and thus of how these links are likely to change in a more pluralistic environment. This article explores these issues in the Côte d'Ivoire.


2020 ◽  
Vol 102 (913) ◽  
pp. 23-26

Digital technologies are changing the very processes we use to serve affected people. In this issue, the Review has chosen to profile the testimonies of two affected people, based in Côte d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who expressed their opinions on two digitally driven projects by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); these projects respectively facilitate restoring and maintaining family links.1 Being of the view that affected people should speak for themselves and that their testimonies should not be cut down or “reworked” to fit the purposes of humanitarians and their outputs, in this section the Review has directly translated the quotes we received from field delegations, word for word, sentence for sentence, making no changes except for the redaction of information to ensure the extent of anonymity requested. By keeping the framing of the quotes to a minimum, we aim to ensure that the Review serves as a platform for the voices of the featured affected people.


Author(s):  
Mamadou Sanogo

Ivorian-Moroccan relations are not new because the diplomatic relations between the two countries have been established since August 16, 1962, but the interest of Morocco for Côte d'Ivoire has considerably strengthened during the royal visit of 19-21 March 2013 in Côte d'Ivoire, the first, since the beginning of his reign in 1999. Morocco is now refocusing its foreign policy on sub-Saharan Africa after the failure of Maghreb integration. This rapprochement resulted in Morocco's return to the African Union and its accession to ECOWAS.


2018 ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
Lyubov Sadovskaya

The article presents a new view on the problems of political stability in West African countries. For the first time was carried out a comparative analysis of the sustainability of the political systems of the two Francophone fastest growing countries in West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The author analyzes the factors negatively influencing political stability social order, and those that reduce conflict potencial in these States. Internal and external threats to the political systems of Senegal and Сôte d’Ivoire are examined. The response of both countries to internal and external challenges is shown. The study proves that while external threats indanger Senegal’s political stability, such as the penetration of religious extremism, the crisis in Casamance, maritime piracy, drug traffic, for Côte d’Ivoire, on the contrary, main risks are internal: electoral, socio-political crises, the split of elites, arms smuggling, banditry. The study demonstrates that the level of social governance in Senegal is higher than in other West African countries, including Сôte d’Ivoire, due to the dualism of the political system: the coexistence of Western-style political institutions with local faiths (tariqas), as well as policy pursued by President M. Sall. aimed at achieving mutual compromise that ensure the peaceful settlement of conflicts and contradictions. The author concludes that a new approach to the development of a security strategy is required.


Parasitology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne K. Angora ◽  
Jean-François Allienne ◽  
Olivier Rey ◽  
Hervé Menan ◽  
André O. Touré ◽  
...  

AbstractSchistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease, though it is highly prevalent in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. While Schistosoma haematobium-bovis hybrids have been reported in West Africa, no data about Schistosoma hybrids in humans are available from Côte d'Ivoire. This study aimed to identify and quantify S. haematobium-bovis hybrids among schoolchildren in four localities of Côte d'Ivoire. Urine samples were collected and examined by filtration to detect Schistosoma eggs. Eggs were hatched and 503 miracidia were individually collected and stored on Whatman® FTA cards for molecular analysis. Individual miracidia were molecularly characterized by analysis of mitochondrial cox1 and nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS 2) DNA regions. A mitochondrial cox1-based diagnostic polymerase chain reaction was performed on 459 miracidia, with 239 (52.1%) exhibiting the typical band for S. haematobium and 220 (47.9%) the S. bovis band. The cox1 and ITS 2 amplicons were Sanger sequenced from 40 randomly selected miracidia to confirm species and hybrids status. Among the 33 cox1 sequences analysed, we identified 15 S. haematobium sequences (45.5%) belonging to seven haplotypes and 18 S. bovis sequences (54.5%) belonging to 12 haplotypes. Of 40 ITS 2 sequences analysed, 31 (77.5%) were assigned to pure S. haematobium, four (10.0%) to pure S. bovis and five (12.5%) to S. haematobium-bovis hybrids. Our findings suggest that S. haematobium-bovis hybrids are common in Côte d'Ivoire. Hence, intense prospection of domestic and wild animals is warranted to determine whether zoonotic transmission occurs.


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