Santé (Montrouge, France)
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Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional disorder worldwide, especially in developing countries. It occurs when iron absorption cannot compensate iron requirements and losses. Requirements are especially high in pregnant women, infants, young children and adolescents who run a higher risk of being iron-deficient. ⋯ The success of most interventions requires the active participation of the individuals. Information and education of the populations, especially through social mobilization campaigns, are essential because iron deficiency induces few visible symptoms, not easily recognizable by individuals. The implementation of national nutrition plans including the control of iron deficiency as one of the priorities and the participation of the public health and education sectors, food industries, the community and the media should contribute to the success of the interventions and to the control of iron deficiency.
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Jan 2002
[At the start of the 21st century, we have the means to reduce malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, but will we do it?].
The number of malnourished children in Africa continues to increase. It has been proven that such tendency could be stopped or even reversed if the lessons learnt from successful community nutrition programs were applied. The authors do not deny the role that poor socio-economic conditions play on malnutrition, and that those conditions need to be improved for a long-lasting impact, but they also argue that it is possible to act in parallel and get positive results, without waiting for macro-economic improvements. ⋯ Finally, the authors suggest that if nutrition seems to often be underfunded, it is mainly because nutritionists in general have not been able to come up with feasible and well-conceived programmes. A few ideas are provided on how to access financing from health sector programs, by ensuring that the community nutrition programme helps implement certain aspects of those health sector programs. The conclusion is that there is no excuse not to start improving the nutritional status of African children now.
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This article sheds a light on the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market. The progress that has been made in the recent years following the opening of the Vietnamese regime to the western world, although not easy, brought a certain number of opportunities for domestic firms and foreign investors. The pharmaceutical Vietnamese industry started to emerge at the beginning of the 1990s. ⋯ Special areas were created to receive high tech investments in the medical and pharmaceutical field. Prices should diminish as competition on the market increases and new products are placed on the market to achieve economies of scale. But investment in medical research is still strongly needed.
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Apr 2001
Case Reports[Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis: the first case in Congo].
We report the first congolese case of intestinal cystic pneumatosis diagnosis at a patient of 64 years who was hospitalized for a glairo-sanguinolent diarrhea, of diffuse abdominal pains and meteorism. Diagnosis was confirmed by the coloscopy which showed polypoïdes formings to fine, translucent walls, depressibles, and for intestinal opacification which showed parietales incomplete images of the left colonist. Evolution was favorable under metronidazol and ciprofloxacin. The coloscopy of control did not find a recurrence.
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Apr 2001
[Acute appendicitis at the National University Hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic: epidemiologic, clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic aspects].
We carried out a retrospective study to analyse clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic aspects of acute appendicitis cases as the National University Hospital (CNHU) at Bangui in the Central African Republic. We compared our findings with those for other African countries and for industrialized countries. From September 15 1990 to February 15 1992, 285 patients underwent laparotomy to treat acute appendicitis. ⋯ Efficient examinations for the exploration of acute nonspecific abdominal pain, such as the measurement of inflammation indicators, particularly serum activated protein C levels, graded-compression ultrasound scans and celioscopy, should be made available in the hospitals of African countries to increase the precision of diagnosis and to decrease the still too high frequency of appendectomies performed on principle. The postoperative mortality rate at the CNHU of Bangui is higher than the low rates (0.1 to 0.25%) reported for industrialized countries but is close to those reported for African countries. This high rate of mortality results partly from the lateness of consultations, because patients in tropical Africa often consult a traditional healer before resorting to modern medicine, and partly from misdiagnoses.