Perceptions and attitudes toward partners support for cervical cancer screening among married men in Ghana.

OBJECTIVES: The majority of literature on cervical cancer (CC) and cervical cancer screening (CCS) focused on women all over the world. However, research has indicated that men's involvement in CCS can lead to improved health outcomes for women. Despite this, there is limited information available in the literature regarding men's attitudes toward CCS. This highlights the need for further study on the subject to increase understanding and improve outcomes. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the perceptions and attitudes toward partners' support for CCS among married men from the Adentan Municipality. STUDY DESIGN: An exploratory descriptive qualitative approach was used in the study to explore the perceptions of married men about male involvement in CCS. METHODS: Thirty-four married men were purposively selected to be part of the interviews. A semistructured interview guide was used to collect data, which were recorded. The tape-recorded data were reproduced verbatim, and content analysis was carried out to generate the themes and subthemes. RESULTS: Three themes and nine subthemes were constructed from the data analysis. The study revealed that the perceptions of males about cervical cancer had a positive or a negative influence on women's behaviors toward CCS. It was interesting that some men constantly reminded their wives to participate in CCS. However, some barriers to men's support included fear of trauma to the wife's vagina during screening and concerns about exposure to the wife's nakedness. CONCLUSION: It was therefore recommended that healthcare facilities should roll out sustainable programs and policies to involve men in CC prevention. In addition, health workers should devise innovative ways to make male involvement in CCS more attractive to men.

High mortality of infant bacteraemia clinically indistinguishable from severe malaria.

BACKGROUND: Early recognition of children at highest risk of dying and the targeting of appropriate drug therapy are vital to the improvement of paediatric care in developing countries. This will rely upon the development of simple clinically-based algorithms and treatment guidelines. AIM: To determine the role of bacteraemia in children presenting with clinical signs and symptoms of severe malaria. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of blood culture results following prospective data collection. METHODS: We studied 251 children presenting with symptoms and signs of severe malaria to a tertiary referral centre in Ghana. Blood was taken for malaria blood films, bacterial culture and haemograms. RESULTS: On the basis of clinical signs alone, malaria-film-positive (n = 182) and -negative (n = 69) patients were indistinguishable. Some 40% of film-negative patients were bacteraemic, vs. 12% of film-positive patients. Severe malaria and bacteraemia were not positively associated. Film-negative bacteraemic patients had a mortality of 39%, primarily affecting the age group <30 months. DISCUSSION: Infants presenting with symptoms and signs of severe malaria but a negative malaria film require immediate antibiotic treatment.