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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Dental caries trends in 5- to 6-year-old and 11- to 13-year-old children in three UNICEF designated regions--Sub Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and Caribbean: 1970-2004.

AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate trends in dental caries prevalence and severity in three developing regions of the world over 35 years. DESIGN: A systematic review of published information. METHODS: Online databases were used to find 130 caries epidemiological studies that used WHO caries diagnostic criteria, published between 1970 and 2004 among 5- to 6-year-old and 11- to 13-year-old children. Mean caries rates were calculated in seven 5-year periods followed by plotting, and analysis of co-variance (region, period). RESULTS: Trends in mean prevalence and mean dmft among 5- to 6-year-olds were confusing but among 11- to 13-year-olds were clearer. Both mean prevalence and mean DMFT were lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rates decreased with time in Latin America and the Caribbean and remained more or less static in the other two regions. Analysis of covariance showed a significant effect of region (P<0.01) for mean prevalence at 5- to 6-years. For mean prevalence at 11-to 13-years, as well as mean dmft and DMFT in both age groupings there were significant effects of region (P=0.01 to <0.0001) and period (P<0.05 to <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The common perception that dental caries rates are increasing in developing countries was not supported in this systematic review.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Epidemiology of chronic intestinal disease in middle Africa.

Gastrointestinal disease in middle Africa is changing. The traditional patterns were high frequencies of parasitic and infectious diseases and sigmoid volvulus, and low incidences of colonic polyps, carcinoma of the colon, appendicitis, diverticulosis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The current disease patterns are compared with those for gastrointestinal disease in developed countries and etiological factors are discussed.

Africa, Central↗
PubMed2001

Dental caries trends in 5 to 6 year-old and 11 to 13 year-old children in two UNICEF designated regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, and Middle East and North Africa, 1970-2000.

The purpose of this study was to do a systematic review of published caries epidemiology studies in two UNICEF defined regions, Sub-Sahara Africa, and the Middle-East and North Africa that contain 63 developing countries. On-line searches were made of articles listed in Medline using PubMed to investigate trends in dental caries in 5 to 6 year-old, and 11 to 13-year-old children using defined inclusion criteria. Of 493 listed publications, 70 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The percentage caries rates and mean dmft, as well as mean DMFT scores, were plotted against study year. Non-significant percentage caries prevalence trends were downward in Sub-Saharan Africa for both 5-6 year-olds and 11-13 year-olds while in Middle-East and North Africa caries prevalence remained constant over the 30-year review period in both age groups. Mean dmft scores significantly diminished in 5-6 year-olds during the study period (y = 200-0.1x, P = 0.05) in Sub-Saharan Africa but the scores remained constant in the Middle-East and North Africa. Mean DMFT scores remained constant in 11-13 year-olds in both Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle-East and North Africa. When the mean dmft and DMFT scores per carious mouth were calculated both age groups in Sub-Saharan Africa showed clear reductions, that for 11 to 13 year-olds was statistically significant (y = 170-0.084x, P = 0.014). In the Middle-East and North Africa the trends in the two age groups remained unchanged.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Strategy for the control of hepatitis B virus infection in the Middle East and North Africa. The Middle East Regional Study Group.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and HBV-associated diseases are prevalent in many parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Postnatal horizontal childhood transmission appears to be the predominant method by which high hepatitis B carrier rates are maintained. To control hepatitis B in this region, mass immunization should be initiated prior to one year of age. This effort would be most cost-beneficial when integrated into the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) and should be preceded by demonstration projects designed to gather practical data on the impact, methods and feasibility of such programmes which can subsequently be used to expand the immunization programme to other parts of the region.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Regional status and approaches to control and eradication of foot and mouth disease in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Middle East is regarded as the region of the world most heavily affected by foot and mouth disease (FMD). The situation in the Middle East and North Africa constitutes a threat to other regions of the world, especially Europe. Risk management differs between North Africa and the Middle East due to different epidemiological situations. In the Middle East, the national cattle population is the principal target of preventive vaccination. Vaccination is used as a tool for preventing economic losses due to the disease, rather than as a means to prevent the spread of the infection. In North Africa, as FMD occurs almost cyclically, management is more focused on emergency preparedness and limitation of the spread of the disease upon diagnosis, as well as on effective control measures based on quarantine and mass vaccination. To reduce future outbreaks of FMD in the countries of the two regions, a common strategic programme should be adopted, based on effective regional co-operation at many levels. This should be complemented by efforts to restructure and consolidate the national Veterinary Services.

Africa, Northern↗
PubMed1989

Changing population rates, policies and attitudes in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

This paper explores the relationship between population growth rates, government policies, and social attitudes in 3 regions: Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. The comparative success of family planning programs in certain countries of South Asia (most notably India and Sri Lanka) can be partly ascribed to their long tradition of government leadership. In addition, families in those countries have strong incentives to educate their children. On the other hand, in North Africa and the Middle East, high levels of urbanization have had antinatalist effects, which are offset by very low levels of girls' schooling and of female employment outside the home. In Sub-Saharan Africa, high fertility is sustained by the structure of the family, with its tendency to separate reproductive decision-making from responsibility for child-rearing. In addition, governments there have had a comparatively weaker tradition in areas such as family behavior.

Africa↗
PubMed1998

One world, one hope: the cost of providing antiretroviral therapy to all nations.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the potential direct cost of making triple combination antiretroviral therapy widely available to HIV-positive adults and children living in countries throughout the world. METHODS: For each country, antiretroviral costs were obtained by multiplying the annual cost of triple antiretroviral therapy by the estimated number of HIV-positive persons accessing therapy. Per capita antiretroviral costs were computed by dividing the antiretroviral costs by the country's total population. The potential economic burden was calculated by dividing per capita antiretroviral costs by the gross national product (GNP) per capita. All values are expressed in 1997 US dollars. RESULTS: The potential cost of making triple combination antiretroviral therapy available to HIV-positive individuals throughout the world was estimated to be over US$ 65.8 billion. By far the greatest financial burden was on sub-Saharan Africa. The highest per capita drug cost in this region would be incurred in the subregions of Southern Africa (US$ 149) followed by East Africa (US$ 116), Middle Africa (US$ 44), and West Africa (US$ 42). In the Americas, subregional data indicated the highest per capita drug cost would be in the Latin Caribbean (US$ 22), followed by the Caribbean (US$ 17), Andean Area (US$ 7), the Southern Cone (US$ 6), North America (US$ 6), and Central American Isthmus (US$ 5). In Asia and Europe the percentage of the GNP necessary to finance drug therapy was less than 1% in most countries examined. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that the cost of making combination antiretroviral therapy available worldwide would be exceedingly high, especially in countries with limited financial resources.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Plasmodium falciparum malaria in urban zones of high endemic regions in black Africa. Potential seriousness and possible preventive measures].

By the year 2000, 40% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa (western and middle Africa) will live in urban areas. It is obvious that urbanization reduces the transmission of malaria and make treatment easier. However, excessive optimism is inappropriate in regions where malaria transmission remains intense and where it is unfortunately illusory to hope for any major or geographically extensive reduction in transmission outside urban and suburban areas. In this context, the benefit of a reduction in malarial morbidity could be compromised by the increased risk of severe forms in town-dwellers, who now have little or no immunity, when they venture into the surrounding rural zone. The prevention of malaria during trips to endemic areas has become a reality for sub-Saharan African town-dwellers. We have to conceive and propose specific protective measures. This version of the advice to travellers about malaria, intended for use in Africa, is fairly similar, in theory, to the advice we give in Europe to travellers going to tropical areas: 1) at most, chemoprophylaxis throughout the exposure period plus 2 or 4 weeks after their return; 2) in all cases, protection against anopheles (take and travel with an impregnated mosquito net) and: 3) above all, the systematic and rapid treatment of any suspected attack of malaria (take and travel with a medicine pack containing antimalarials). If it seems vain to hope to be able to apply these measures in the current socio-economic situation in sub-Saharan African, they are nonetheless justified.

Africa South of the Sahara↗
PubMed2003

Evolutionary relationship between Old World West Nile virus strains. Evidence for viral gene flow between Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Little is known about the genetic relationships between European and other Old-World strains of West Nile virus (WNV) and persistence of WNV North of Mediterranean. We characterized the complete genomes of three WNV strains from France (horse-2000), Tunisia (human-1997) and Kenya (mosquito-1998), and the envelope, NS3 and NS5 genes of the Koutango virus. Phylogenetic analyses including all available full-length sequences showed that: (1) Koutango virus is a distant variant of WNV; (2) the three characterized strains belong to lineage 1, clade 1a; (3) the Tunisian strain roots the lineage of viruses introduced in North America. We established that currently available partial envelope sequences do not generate reliable phylogenies. Accordingly, establishing a large WNV sequence database is pivotal for the understanding of spatial and temporal epidemiology of this virus. For rapid completion of that purpose, colinearized E-NS3-NS5 gene sequences were shown to constitute a valuable surrogate for complete sequences.

Africa↗
PubMed2000

Hepatitis A shifting epidemiology in the Middle East and Africa.

Data on the endemicity of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in Africa and the Middle East are scant, but most of Africa appears to remain a high endemicity region, with the exception of subpopulations in some areas, e.g. White people in South Africa. Saudi Arabia is a model for the Middle East, and is a country in which shifting HAV epidemiology has been documented in recent years, concurrent with the social and economic development that has occurred over the last two decades. Earlier studies generally showed very high prevalence rates, with most people becoming infected in early childhood. Between 1989 and 1995, however, there was a significant fall in the seroprevalence of antibodies to HAV in children up to 12 years old throughout the country except in one region bordering the Yemen. The highest seroprevalence is found in children from rural backgrounds, while the seroprevalences in Bedouin and urban children are similar. Seroprevalence is related to socioeconomic status, being highest in the lowest groups. Similar findings have been reported from other countries in the Middle East. The existence of pockets of high endemicity for HAV infection with surrounding areas shifting towards intermediate endemicity may lead to outbreaks, and widespread vaccination should be considered.

Adolescent↗