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Background: A steady decline in the number of cases of malaria was observed in the 2000s in French Guiana. This enabled regional health policies to shift their public health goal from control to elimination. To include inhabitants in this strategy, the main objective of this study was to describe knowledge about malaria, and related attitudes and practices in persons living in the French Guiana border. Methods: We conducted a survey in people over 15 years old living in the twelve neighbourhoods of Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock with the highest malaria incidence. It comprised a 147-item questionnaire which collected data on socio-demographic characteristics and included a Knowledge Attitude and Practices survey on malaria. Knowledge-related data were studied using exploratory statistical methods to derive summary variables. A binary variable assessing level of knowledge was proposed and then assessed using exploratory approaches. Results: The mean age of the 844 participants was 37.2 years [15.8], the male/female sex ratio was 0.8. In terms of nationality, 485 (57.5%) participants were Brazilian and 352 (41.7%) French. One third (305, 36.1%) spoke Brazilian Portuguese as their native language, 295 (34.9%) the Amerindian language Palikur, 36 (4.3%) French. The symptoms of malaria and prevention means were poorly known by 213 (25.2%) and 378 (44.8%) respondents, respectively. A quarter (206, 24.4%) did not know that malaria can be fatal. Overall, 251 people (29.7%) had an overall poor level of knowledge about malaria. Being under 25 years old, living in a native Amerindian neighbourhood, having an Amerindian mother tongue language, having risk behaviours related to gold mining were significantly associated with a poor level of knowledge. Conclusions: This study is the first to describe the poor level of knowledge about malaria in populations living in the malaria endemic border area along the Oyapock river in French Guiana. Results will allow to reinforce, to diversify and to culturally adapt prevention messages and health promotion to increase their effectiveness with a view to quickly reaching the goal of malaria elimination through empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents experience a host of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges, with detrimental SRH and socio-economic consequences. These include early sexual debut, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, and early childbearing. Parent-adolescent communication about SRH has significant potential to reduce adolescents' risky sexual behaviors. However, communication between parents and adolescents is limited. This study explored the facilitators and barriers to parent-adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in the border districts of Busia and Tororo in Eastern Uganda. Data collection entailed 8 Focus Group Discussions comprising of parents, adolescents (10–17 years), and 25 key informants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Thematic analysis was conducted with the aid of NVIVO 12 software. Results: Participants acknowledged the key role parents play in communicating SRH matters; however, only a few parents engage in such discussions. Facilitators of parent-adolescent communication were: having a good parent-child relationship which makes parents approachable and motivates children to discuss issues openly, a closer bond between mothers and children which is partly attributed to gender roles and expectations eases communication, and having parents with high education making them more knowledgeable and confident when discussing SRH issues with children. However, the discussions are limited by cultural norms that treat parent-child conversations on SRH as a taboo, parents' lack of knowledge, and parents busy work schedules made them unavailable to address pertinent SRH issues. Conclusion: Parents' ability to communicate with their children is hindered by cultural barriers, busy work schedules, and a lack of knowledge. Engaging all stakeholders including parents to deconstruct sociocultural norms around adolescent SRH, developing the capacity of parents to confidently initiate and convey accurate SRH information, initiation of SRH discussions at early ages, and integrating parent-adolescent communication into parenting interventions, are potential strategies to improve SRH communication between parents and adolescents in high-risk settings such as borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The border area between French Guiana and Brazil is an active HIV-transmission zone. The aim of the present study was to describe HIV knowledge, risk and the level of stigma among inhabitants of this border area.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 621 inhabitants over 18 years of age in the border cities of Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock in French Guiana and Oiapoque in Brazil. It was conducted between October 2017 and February 2018. An anonymous standardized questionnaire was filled out by culturally-trained mediators, then analyzed using STATA 12.Results: Almost half (45.9%) of the individuals had a low education level. Participants whose native language was Portuguese or French demonstrated better HIV knowledge than other populations, notably native Amerindian and creole-speaking people. HIV risk behavior was more frequent in men and in younger age groups. People with good HIV knowledge reported having performed more HIV tests in the last year than participants with poor knowledge. The stigma level was high and reported in 74.8% of respondents.Conclusions: These results illustrate the need for initiatives to improve HIV prevention among autochthonous populations on both sides of this border area. Cross-border collaboration on health policies could produce common key messages adapted to the education level and multi-linguistic populations who live in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]