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Neonatal screening is the first action necessary to identify children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and thus ensure their care. Using rapid tests to give an immediate result to families is a new resilient approach of great interest. These two aspects are essential for establishing an adequate health policy for this disease. This study was undertaken in Kisangani to update the current incidence of neonatal SCD. Heel prick blood samples of 1432 babies born from different racial groups of parents living in Kisangani were collected at birth and screened using a point of care test, i.e. the HemoTypeSCTM. The incidence at birth was 2.2% (n = 31; 95% CI: [1.5%−3.1%]) for HbSS homozygosity and 21% (n = 303; 95% CI: [19%−23%]) for HbAS heterozygosity. Compared to a previous study in 2010; the incidence at the birth of the HbSS form has doubled, while that of the heterozygous form HbAS remained almost unchanged. The inter-ethnic incidence of HbSS among the five top-represented ethnic groups was significant (<0.001). The prevalence of homozygote form has doubled compared to the 0.96% reported in 2010. Setting up a neonatal screening program and an awareness unit is necessary to assess the need for care services correctly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Both sildenafil and estradiol are seen to improve endometrial thickness in patients with infertility who are undergoing clomiphene induction cycles. However, the correlation between endometrial thickness and pregnancy rate is debatable. This study investigated the effect of adding oral sildenafil to clomiphene citrate (CC), compared to adding estradiol valerate, on the uterine biophysical profile (Applebaum score) and pregnancy rate., Methods: This was a double-blinded, randomized controlled trial conducted in Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from October 1, 2021, to October 31, 2023. Patients with unexplained infertility were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the interventional, which was given CC (2 x 50 mg/day from day 3 to day 7 of the menstrual cycle) + sildenafil (2 x 25 mg/day orally from day 8 to day 12) or (ii) the control group, which was given CC (similar dosage as the intervention group) + EV (2 x 2 mg/day orally from day 8 to day 12), for a maximum of three cycles. Applebaum scores and clinical pregnancy rates were measured., Results: Patients in the sildenafil and EV groups were similar in mean age (29.04 versus 28.89 years). Of the 74 patients enrolled in each group, 71 in the sildenafil group and 72 in the EV group received treatment and were followed to completion. The Applebaum scores were significantly higher in the sildenafil group than in the EV group (17.05 versus 15.14, respectively, P=0.000). In the sildenafil group, the clinical pregnancy rate was also significantly higher, at 28.92% versus 20.83% in the EV group (P = 0.04)., Conclusion: As compared to EV, the oral addition of sildenafil to CC is associated with a good Applebaum score and a high rate of clinical pregnancy in patients with unexplained infertility., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Ethics Committee of the University of Kisangani issued approval UNIKIS/CER/08/2021. The study was conducted in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. Patients were provided with explanations of the study's objectives and procedures prior to participation. The trial was registered in the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry with registration number: PACTR202310849449401. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: This study was financially supported by a grant from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the University of Kisangani and the Fondation des Anges. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Bosenge-Nguma et al.)

Quality is one of the essential components of medicines and needs to be ensured to preserve the population's health. This can be achieved through post-marketing quality control of medicines and is one of the most important duties of national regulatory authorities. In collaboration with the Cameroonian National Drug Quality Control and Valuation Laboratory, the decision was made to initiate a prevalence study to assess the quality of antiinfective medicines in Cameroon. A total of 150 samples of ciprofloxacin tablets and 142 samples of metronidazole tablets were collected from 76 licensed pharmacies and 75 informal vendors in three cities in Cameroon using a random strategy wherever possible and a mystery shopper approach. Three tests were carried out on each of the samples. Visual inspection allowed to find two falsified samples (0.7%) due to lack of information about the manufacturing company, and five more samples (1.7%) were deemed to be substandard due to flaws in the product. An additional 13 samples (4.5%) failed disintegration testing, and six (2.1%) others failed high-performance liquid chromatography assay testing due to insufficient active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content. All samples were found to contain some API. A prevalence of 7.9% substandard or falsified (SF) medicines was found. Moreover, the prevalence of outlets selling SF medicines was greater in the informal sector (26.7%) than in the formal sector (2.6%). Although the prevalence of SF medicines found was low, efforts need to be made by national regulatory authorities to monitor the pharmaceutical market more closely.

Background: In the context of old pharmaceutical legislation and regulations not adapted to current realities, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the existing pharmaceutical system in peri-urban areas of Kinshasa., Methods: A prospective study was carried out during the period 2016-2018. The most used antimalarial medicines were identified through household and pharmaceutical establishment surveys. The samples of the obtained medicines were assayed with generic separation methods using the high-performance liquid chromatography technique coupled to a diode array detector. The registration status was checked for 126 antimalarial brand names. A characterization was carried out in 196 pharmaceutical establishments on the basis of standards set out by the Ministry of Health., Results: Of the 75 samples assayed, 19% (14/75) were non-compliant. Of the 124 brand names, 46.0% (57/124) were unlicensed and 14.5% (18/124) had an expired licence. Of the 196 pharmaceutical establishments, only 2 (1.0%) had an authorization to practice, none met all the Ministry of Health minimum standards and 24.5% (48/196) met the World Health Organization Guidelines for the Storage of Essential Medicines and Other Health Commodities., Conclusions: More resources should be mobilized to apply regulator sanctions., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.)