biopesticide overcomes insecticide resistance in malaria vector mosquitoes.

Vector mosquito control is an integral part of malaria control. The global emergence of insecticide resistance in malaria-transmitting has become an impediment and has created an urgent need for novel mosquito control approaches. Here, we show that a biopesticide derived from the soil-dwelling bacterium sp.

Capacity building at points of entry during COVID-19 pandemic: harmonising training curriculum for Economic Community of West African States.

This paper describes the process for developing, validating and disseminating through a train-the-trainer (TOT) event a standardised curriculum for public health capacity building for points of entry (POE) staff across the 15-member state Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that reflects both international standards and national guidelines.A five-phase process was used in developing the curriculum: phase (1) assessment of existing materials developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Africa CDC and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, (2) design of retained and new, harmonised content, (3) validation by the national leadership to produce final content, (4) implementation of the harmonised curriculum during a regional TOT, and (5) evaluation of the curriculum.Of the nine modules assessed in English and French, the technical team agreed to retain six harmonised modules providing materials for 10 days of intensive training.

Plasmodium malariae structure and genetic diversity in sub-Saharan Africa determined from microsatellite variants and linked SNPs in orthologues of antimalarial resistance genes.

Plasmodium malariae, a neglected human malaria parasite, contributes up to 10% of malaria infections in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA). Though P. malariae infection is considered clinically benign, it presents mostly as coinfections with the dominant P.

Determinants of evidence use by frontline maternal, newborn and child health staff in selected health facilities in Ghana.

Background: The current paper examines the level of use of evidence and factors affecting the use of evidence by frontline maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and reproductive and child health (RCH) staff in practice decisions in selected health facilities in Ghana.

Methods: Data on use of evidence and its correlates was collected from 509 frontline healthcare staff drawn from 44 health facilities in three regions in Ghana. Means were used to examine the level of use of evidence, whiles cross-tabulations and Partial Least Squares-based regression were used to examine factors associated with the use of evidence in practice decisions by frontline MNCH/RCH staff.

COVID-19 in West Africa: regional resource mobilisation and allocation in the first year of the pandemic.

The world continues to battle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas many countries are currently experiencing the second wave of the outbreak; Africa, despite being the last continent to be affected by the virus, has not experienced as much devastation as other continents. For example, West Africa, with a population of 367 million people, had confirmed 412 178 cases of COVID-19 with 5363 deaths as of 14 March 2021; compared with the USA which had recorded almost 30 million cases and 530 000 deaths, despite having a slightly smaller population (328 million).

A review of the process of knowledge transfer and use of evidence in reproductive and child health in Ghana.

Background: The paper carries out a situational analysis to examine the production, dissemination and utilisation of reproductive and child health-related evidence to inform policy formulation in Ghana's health sector.

Methods: The study used Wald's model of knowledge production, transfer and utilisation as a conceptual model to collect relevant data via interviews and administration of questionnaire to a network of persons who either previously or currently hold policy-relevant positions in Ghana's health sector. Additional data was also gathered through a scoping review of the knowledge transfer and research utilisation literature, existing reproductive and child health policies, protocols and guidelines and information available on the websites of relevant institutions in Ghana's health sector.

25S rDNA genotype and antifungal susceptibility of clinical Candida albicans in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).

The present investigation aimed to assess the prevalence of genotypes of C. albicans in Ouagadougou and to analyze the relationship between the genetic diversity and antifungal susceptibility. Ninety-six clinical strains are included.

Living with HIV: women's experience in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Our study aimed at studying HIV-infected women's experience with sharing serostatus with their partner and their group support. A survey was carried out among 79 seropositive women involved in a therapeutic trial in Bobo-Dioulasso, following freely consented prenatal HIV testing. The study revealed that women are reluctant to inform their partners and fear being stigmatized by relatives and friends.