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Men who have sex with men (MSM) experience a high degree of discrimination and marginalization in Senegal. Homophobia is pervasive in Senegalese society at the cultural, religious, and political levels. Its effects are reflected in the disproportionately high levels of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse among men who have sex with men when compared to the general population. Given the widespread stigma and the lack of structural support, healthcare providers play a critical role in reconciling the physical and psychological needs of men who have sex with men. This led to the design of a training program that aimed to improve the capacity of healthcare providers to deliver MSM-competent psychosocial care. The training was delivered virtually to 37 Senegal-based nurses and physicians. The program was quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated using pre- and post-testing. The findings demonstrate a general post-training increase in knowledge acquisition (9. 23%, p-value = 0.0021) and a 6.39% reduction in homophobia, which was statistically significant (p = 0.0376); with male providers outperforming female providers, and physicians outperforming nurses. This demonstrates the effectiveness and applicability of the program to support the psychosocial needs of men who have sex with men, and its capacity for future and broader implementation among healthcare providers.

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CONTEXT: Community engagement is one of the most effective approaches to the fight against Ebola. It has been shown to be effective in other contexts and was implemented in Guinea for two years to reduce the spread of the Ebola Outbreak. METHODS: This article is based on a qualitative approach combining several data collection methods over a nine-month period in the field : series of formal and informal interviews, participating observations, focus groups, comment meetings, analysis of reports and follow-up of news on the Ebola Outbreak. These methods are designed to more effectively describe community engagement in the fight against Ebola in Guinea. RESULTS: Communities were initially subjected to coercive methods of prevention and control of Ebola and were stigmatized. This context subsequently led to two forms of resistance from communities in relation to the actors of prevention : passive and active resistance. The course of the epidemic and the determination of the mediators finally succeeded in involving the communities in the fight against Ebola, which therefore effectively contributed to the end of the epidemic. DISCUSSION: These results demonstrate that, as during other epidemics and in other contexts, communities are not passive stakeholders in the fight against Ebola. They can be actively involved based on their knowledge, but also the attitudes of other actors involved in the fight against VME.

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OBJECTIVE: Dental caries is frequently observed in children, particularly among those residing in developing countries. The most adapted strategies against this pathology remains prevention based on information, education, and communication (IEC), as well as on early diagnosis and treatment. We carried out a study that aimed to analyze the development of dental caries in a cohort of school children followed during their primary education. The objective was to assess the evolution of the dental status of a cohort of students during their elementary curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cohort of school children was followed during 6 years from the first grade to the sixth grade. Monitoring of these school children focused every year on IEC based on learning methods of brushing messages, dietary advice, systematic visits, fluoride use, and primary dental care. During the school year, the students were periodically subjected to education and communication briefings (IEC). Primary care consisted of extracting and descaling rhizalyzed teeth in the same period. The data from this review were collected using the World Health Organization questionnaire, and statistical analysis was performed with the software Epi-info version 6.04 d. RESULTS: The mean age of the 171 school children was 6 years in the first grade and 11 years in the sixth grade. In the first grade, the decayed permanent teeth prevalence was 31.6% and the In permanent teeth: Decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMF/T) was 0.47. The decayed primary teeth prevalence was 75% and the in primary teeth: decayed or filled teeth (df/t) 2.23. In the sixth year, the prevalence of decayed permanent teeth was 51% and DMF/T 0.36 whereas the decayed primary teeth prevalence was 12% and the df/t was 0.19. The prevalence of decayed permanent teeth increased from 31.6 to 51% whereas the mean DMF/T was not statistically different between school children of the first and sixth grade class. CONCLUSION: The promotion of oral health by IEC messages and monitoring of children constitute an effective preventive method for children's oral care.