[Food consumption patterns in the urban milieu of Bamako].

Food consumption patterns in urban environments are changing and diversifying. This longitudinal study of individual food consumption took into account the coexistence of two types of food consumption: within the home and outside the home. This article presents a summary of qualitative and quantitative research carried out in Bamako, Mali in 1995 and 1996 among 74 families from different socio-economic groups.

[Maternal mortality and referral maternities in Morocco: how to (re)motivate professionals?].

The very high rates of maternal mortality and perinatal mortality, as well as the deficiencies and dysfunctions observed in maternity hospitals, which play the role of referential maternity wards, led the Moroccan Minister of Public Health to implement a project in order to improve the quality of care of parturient women and new-borns. This project included 8 provinces in the country. The strategy chosen was "the team approach to resolving health problems", which is a learning process which leads local teams to implement and evaluate projects they have developed themselves.

[The time is ripe for listening to the voice of the half of the world].

Has the world of women changed? So wonders a one-time champion of what was then called women's rights, and is now known as women's empowerment, in the Third World. She recalls her surprise when she listened to advocates of birth spacing as a young mother. She remembers the debates she attended: "Today development, tomorrow the Pill", "Women's education is the key to progress", the speculations of western feminists ignorant of the burden of traditions kept alive elsewhere.

[Home and outside home food complementarity in Bamako (Mali): nutritional and economic aspects. What is the rationality behind consumers' choices?].

Background: Great modifications in social and family relationships and life style come from rapid urbanisation in developing countries. Various types of malnutrition coexist in these towns. Food consumption outside the home is more and more common.

Comparison of the safety and immunogenicity of the lyophilized Mérieux seed and the World Health Organization working reference BCG vaccines in school-aged children in Senegal.

In order to validate two new lots of Mérieux BCG vaccine (Mérieux seed derived from strain 1072), a calibration study was performed to compare their safety and immunogenicity to a full dose of the WHO-reference BCG vaccine (Tokyo strain 172) as well as the WHO-reference vaccine given at 1/10 of its normal concentration, in an open, randomized, four-arm, multicenter study in Senegal. A total of 1041 healthy Senegalese children aged 8-10 years were screened for participation in this study, of whom 548 had a negative Mantoux test and complied with inclusion and exclusion criteria. These children were randomly allocated a single dose of one of the following vaccines: full-dose Mérieux BCG vaccine (lot E0650); full-dose Mérieux BCG vaccine (lot E0624); full-dose WHO-reference vaccine (Tokyo strain 172); or 1/10 dose WHO-reference vaccine.

[Expanded program of vaccination. Results and prospects].

The expanded program on immunization, jointly launched by WHO and UNICEF in 1974 aimed in the beginning at immunizing 80% of the children of the world against measles, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria and tuberculosis. After reaching the objectives in 1990, countries have been urged towards eradication of poliomyelitis, elimination of neonatal tetanus, and measles control. Immunization against hepatitis B and yellow fever were also proposed according to local epidemiology.

[Food habits outside the home by school children in Cotonou (Benin)].

Urban growth leads to the consumption of food outside the home, with the demand for street food coming particularly from school children. A survey of 240 primary school children aged 8 to 13 was carried out, by means of personal interviews. More than 90% were regularly given pocket money by their parents, and this money was used mainly for buying food from vendors inside or near their schools.

[Devaluation of the African Financial Community franc and the dietary strategies of families in Bamako (Mali)].

This survey, conducted in 1996, evaluated changes in the way families feed themselves caused by the effects of devaluation of the CFA franc. It involved semi-directed interviews with 64 subjects from various socio-economic backgrounds (affluent, middle-class, poor). The subjects spoke of the difficulties of daily life, lack of money and rapid, unpredictable rises in the prices of essential goods caused by the devaluation.

[Vitamin A deficiency: epidemiological aspects and control methods].

Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiency syndromes in children from developing countries. It is also correlated with the increased severity and incidence of certain infections. Until recently, vitamin A research was focused on preventing xerophthalmia and blindness in Third World Countries and on the development of synthetic retinoid molecules, with lower toxicity than vitamin A, for the treatment of skin diseases.