Strengthening Government Leadership in Family Planning Programming in Senegal: From Proof of Concept to Proof of Implementation in 2 Districts.

Given Senegal's limited resources, the country receives substantial support from externally funded partner organizations to provide family planning and maternal and child health services. These organizations often take a strong and sometimes independent role in implementing interventions with their own structures and personnel, thereby bypassing the government district health system. This article presents findings from the Initiative Sénégalaise de Santé Urbaine (ISSU) (Senegal Urban Health Initiative) that assessed in 2 districts, Diamniadio and Rufisque, the extent to which it was feasible to create stronger government ownership and leadership in implementing a simplified package of family planning interventions from among those previously tested in other districts.

Evaluation of PIMATM CD4 System for Decentralization of Immunological Monitoring of HIV-Infected Patients in Senegal.

Background: HIV infection is a concern in the army troupes because of the risk behaviour of the military population. In order to allow regular access to CD4+ T cell enumeration of military personnel as well as their dependents and civilians living with HIV, the Senegalese Army AIDS program is implementing PIMATM Alere technology in urban and semi-urban military medical centres. Validation such device is therefore required prior their wide implementation.

Informed push distribution of contraceptives in Senegal reduces stockouts and improves quality of family planning services.

Contraceptive use in Senegal is among the lowest in the world and has barely increased over the past 5 years, from 10% of married women in 2005 to 12% in 2011. Contraceptive stockouts in public facilities, where 85% of women access family planning services, are common. In 2011, we conducted a supply chain study of 33 public-sector facilities in Pikine and Guediawaye districts of the Dakar region to understand the magnitude and root causes of stockouts.

Influence of integrated services on postpartum family planning use: a cross-sectional survey from urban Senegal.

Background: Although the majority of postpartum women indicate a desire to delay a next birth, family planning (FP) methods are often not offered to, or taken up by, women in the first year postpartum. This study uses data from urban Senegal to examine exposure to FP information and services at the time of delivery and at child immunization appointments and to determine if these points of integration are associated with greater use of postpartum FP.

Methods: A representative, household sample of women, ages 15-49, was surveyed from six cities in Senegal in 2011.

A new species of Spirura Blanchard, 1849 (Nematoda: Spiruridae) parasite of Heliosciurus gambianus and Xerus erythropus (Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Senegal.

A new species of Spirura is described from the stomach of Heliosciurus gambianus and Xerus erythropus (Sciuridae). Considering the number of preanal papillae of males, Babero (1973 ) and Giannetto and Canestri Trotti (1995) proposed the subdivision of the genus into 2 groups; those with 4 pairs of preanal papillae (25 species) and with more than 4 pairs of preanal papillae (4 species). Spirura mounporti n.