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Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common clinically significant hemoglobinopathy, characterized by painful episodes, anemia, high risk of infection, and other acute and chronic complications. In Africa, where the disease is most prevalent, large longitudinal data on patients and their outcomes are lacking. This article describes the experiences of the Kumasi Center for SCD at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KCSCD-KATH), a Sickle Pan-African Research Consortium (SPARCO) site and a SickleInAfrica Consortium member, in establishing a SCD registry for the evaluation of the outcomes of patients. It also provides a report of a preliminary analysis of the data. The process of developing the registry database involved comprehensive review of the center’s SCD patient medical records, incorporating data elements developed by the SickleInAfrica Consortium and obtaining ethical clearance from the local Institutional Review Board. From December 2017 to March 2020, 3,148 SCD patients were enrolled into the SCD registry. Enrollment was during the SCD outpatient clinic visits or through home visits. A significant proportion of the patients was from the newborn screening cohort (50.3%) and was males (52.9%). SCD-SS, SCD-SC, and Sβ +thalassemia were seen in 67.2, 32.5, and 0.3% patients, respectively. The majority of the patients were in a steady state at enrollment; however, some were enrolled after discharge for an acute illness admission. The top two clinical diagnoses for SCD-SS patients were sickle cell painful events and acute anemia secondary to hyperhemolysis with incidence rates of 141.86 per 10,000 person months of observation (PMO) and 32.74 per 10,000 PMO, respectively. In SCD-SC patients, the top two diagnoses were sickle cell painful events and avascular necrosis with incidence rates of 203.09 per 10,000 PMO and 21.19 per 10,000 PMO, respectively. The SPARCO Kumasi site has developed skills and infrastructure to design, manage, and analyze data in the SCD registry. The newborn screening program and alternative recruitment methods such as radio announcement and home visits for defaulting patients were the key steps taken in enrolling patients into the registry. The registry will provide longitudinal data that will help improve knowledge of SCD in Ghana and Africa through research.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on coccidiosis in domestic food animals in Africa spanning the period from 2002 to 2022 was done with the objective of identifying the distribution of studies on the infection and aggregation of prevalence of the parasite in the study animals. A total of 43 articles met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the review. These include 16 studies on cattle, 9 on sheep, 7 on goats, 2 on pigs and 18 on poultry. The results revealed pooled data from 8,717 cattle, out of which 3,211, representing 36.84%, were positive for coccidiosis. In sheep, a total of 1,916 samples were pooled, out of which 895 representing 46.71%, were positive for the disease. In goats, 2,148 samples were pooled, out of which 1,316, representing 61.26%, were positive for the disease. Two studies gave a total of 610 samples in pigs, out of which 78, representing 12.78%, were positive for coccidiosis. In poultry, 7,261 samples were pooled, out of which 2,894, representing 39.86%, were positive for coccidiosis. There were however, no significant differences in prevalence between the five species. The concentration method of ova and parasite examination was the commonest method of isolation of Eimeria identified in the current review. In conclusion, Eimeria infection is high in food animals in Africa. Therefore, to tackle the disease, there is a need for a concerted effort in the identification, diagnosis and general prevention and control of the disease. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10580171

IntroductionThis case study reports on how a gender responsive breeding program contributes to meeting the trait preference of men and women for improved cowpea varieties in northern Ghana.MethodsFifty-eight early-maturing, medium-maturing and dual-purpose cowpea lines were planted at the CSIR-SARI research fields and women and men farmers invited for participatory plant breeding (PPB) in 2016. Selected lines from the PPB were further evaluated in 2017 using participatory varietal selection (PVS) in 5 districts in northern Ghana. In addition, 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in 2018 in 10 randomly selected communities with 260 participants (130 women and 130 men) across the districts where the PVS had been held previously.Results and discussionThe study finds drought tolerance, short cooking time and pest resistance to be the most preferred cowpea traits among both men and women. The study also finds that gender differences exist in trait preference, especially for traits such as seed coat color, earliness, pod above canopy and indeterminate growth habit. As breeding programs focus on improving genetic gains for tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses, equal attention must be given to breeding for traits desired by women.

Unprecedented advancement in medical technology and its rapidly growing field of allied sciences indisputably have contributed significantly to the treatment of diseases and even inborn defects. However, they challenge many traditionally cherished age-old conceptions about diseases, natural deformities and even end-of-life care. Victims of accidents and those suffering from irrecoverable chronic diseases are put in life-support in the intensive care of the hospital thereby creating a new kind of life and possibility for terminating such a life. Thus, modern means of dealing with end-of-life matters raise topical issues of bioethical import, such as euthanasia and brain death, for both the scholars of bioethics and jurists to speculate. In the Muslim world, juridical bodies and individual jurists have come hard on active euthanasia but by and large endorsing medical definition of brain death to be in consonance with Islam. This has led critics to question the legitimacy of such juridical pronouncements on larger ethical and metaphysical grounds and propose methodological framework to remedy the situation. This paper, therefore, by engaging with such a discourse argues for a holistic approach to meet the medical challenges of end-of-life care in line with both ethical and legal ethos of Islamic Shari'ah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]