Mapping xerophthalmia in Mali: results of a national survey on regional distribution and related risk factors.

Background: Vitamin A deficiency is recognized to be a severe public health problem in most of the sahelian countries. In Mali, several surveys had been performed at the district or regional level. Unfortunately, they did not cover the entire territory.

National immunisation days and vitamin A distribution in Mali: has the vitamin A status of pre-school children improved?

Objectives: The impact on vitamin A status of the distribution of vitamin A during national immunisation days (NIDs) has not been well established despite strong promotion by international agencies and donors. Using a pre-post design, the change in prevalence of vitamin A deficiency was examined in pre-school children in Mali.

Design: Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Mopti region, the first in March 1997 before this strategy was adopted and the second in March 1999, four-and-a-half months after a mass distribution of vitamin A during NIDs.

Prevalence of undernutrition and vitamin A deficiency in the Dogon Region, Mali.

Objectives: A representative sample of 1510 preschool children living in the Bandiagra circle (Mopti Region, Mali) was examined between March and April 1997 to determine the level of vitamin A deficiency.

Methods: Using a randomized two level cluster sampling, 20 clusters of 75 children aged six months to six years were selected for evaluating xerophthalmia (XN night blindness and/or X1B Bitot spot). Concurrently stature and weight were determined.

Risk factors for trachoma in Mali.

Objectives: Prior to commencing a campaign to eliminate blinding trachoma in Mali, a national disease prevalence survey was conducted from March 1996 to June 1997. The prevalence of trachoma was estimated and potential risk factors were studied.

Methods: In each of Mali's seven regions (excluding the capital Bamako), a sample of 30 clusters was taken from the general population, in accordance with the principle of probability proportional to the size of the community.

[Onchocerciasis and epilepsy. Epidemiological survey in Mali].

A door-to-door survey was conducted in 18 villages in Mali with a total of 5,243 inhabitants classified according to the endemicity of onchocerciasis. Each epileptic was matched with two controls. The survey protocol included the following steps in cases and controls: census taking, socioeconomic data, screening for epilepsy, clinical examination, laboratory testing to detect parasites in stools and urine, and snip-test.

[Rapid trachoma assessment method (TRA): comparison with an exhaustive prevalence survey in a region of endemic trachoma in Mali].

In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed a new strategy aimed at controlling blinding trachoma by 2020. The WHO developed a rapid assessment method for trachoma (TRA) for identifying communities affected by blinding trachoma and for ranking villages with endemic trachoma in order of priority for intervention. We applied this method to communities in Mali in which trachoma was prevalent, and compared the results with those of a classical prevalence survey.

[Cartography of trachoma in Mali: results of a national survey].

Prior to a campaign to eliminate blinding trachoma, a survey of the prevalence of the disease was conducted in the seven administrative regions of Mali between March 1996 and June 1997. In each region (with the exception of Bamako District) a random sample of thirty clusters was taken from the general population, in accordance with the principle of probability proportionate to the size of the communities. All children under 10 years of age and all women over 14 years were examined.

[Strategies to control vitamin A deficiency].

Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in the countries of the Sahel. It causes xerophthalmia and high rates of child mortality and it occurs mostly in underdeveloped regions. People of all ages may suffer from vitamin A deficiency but it is a particular problem in pre-school-age children.