[Causes of death in Tunisia: estimates of years of life lost]

This study estimated the number of years of life lost [YLL] by cause due to premature death in Tunisia for the year 2006. We adopted the methodology [SEYLL] proposed by Murray and Lopez. The crude rate of YLL was 58.1 per 1000 inhabitants. After age-standardization using the world population, we obtained a rate of 57.7 YLL per 1000. Cardiovascular diseases [CVD] [19.3% of total YLL] and cancers [17.8%] dominated the burden of premature mortality, followed by perinatal conditions [13.6%]. Excluding extreme age groups where perinatal conditions [0-4 years] and CVD [> 60 years] dominated the YLL's causes, injuries [road traffic crashes, falls, etc.] and cancers were most responsible for YLL. The present study highlights the major contribution of noncommunicable diseases to YLL in Tunisia. The promotion of healthy lifestyle and the reinforcement of secondary prevention in primary health care are the best ways to tackle these diseases

[Study of psychosocial factors of HIV infected patients in Tunisia]

We conducted a prospective study using an anonymous questionnaire and semistructured interviews on 60 patients with HIV to assess the psychological and socioenvironmental factors that may result in risk-taking behaviour. The patients were mainly young males [mean age 33.1 +/- 7.0 years] [sex ratio 2.3] deprived in both social and educational terms. Injecting drug use was the predominant risk factor and was characteristic of a first group of young men raised in large families shattered by rural-urban migration, with an antisocial personality. A second group consisted of women, mostly illiterate from traditional rural settings. They had been infected by their spouses who had worked abroad, whether drug users or not. Approaches for the prevention of HIV infection are proposed