Implementation of HPV-based screening in Burkina Faso: lessons learned from the PARACAO hybrid-effectiveness study.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer screening in sub-Saharan countries relies on primary visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). Primary human papillomavirus (HPV)-based screening is considered a promising alternative. However, the implementation and real-life effectiveness of this strategy at the primary-care level in limited-resource contexts remain under explored. In Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, free HPV-based screening was implemented in 2019 in two primary healthcare centers. We carried out a process and effectiveness evaluation of this intervention. METHODS: Effectiveness outcomes and implementation indicators were assessed through a cohort study of screened women, observations in participating centers, individual interviews with women and healthcare providers and monitoring reports. Effectiveness outcomes were screening completeness and women's satisfaction. Logistic regression models and concurrent qualitative analysis explored how implementation variability, acceptability by women and the context affected effectiveness outcomes. RESULTS: After a 3-month implementation period, of the 350 women included in the cohort, 94% completed the screening, although only 26% had their screening completed in a single visit as planned in the protocol. The proportion of highly satisfied women was higher after result disclosure (95%) than after sampling (65%). A good understanding of the screening results and recommendations increased screening completeness and women's satisfaction, while time to result disclosure decreased satisfaction. Adaptations were made to fit healthcare workers' workload. CONCLUSION: Free HPV-based screening was successfully integrated within primary care in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, leading to a high level of screening completeness despite the frequent use of multiple visits. Future implementation in primary healthcare centers needs to improve counseling and reduce wait times at the various steps of the screening sequence.

Adapting care provision and advocating for unprotected unaccompanied minors in Paris in the context of COVID-19.

Unaccompanied minors (UMs) are children under 18 who arrive on the territory of a foreign country without the care of a guardian. In many countries their access to social and health care services depends on their legal recognition as minors. For instance, in France, high rejection rates of minor status place unprotected UMs in social precarity, such that in Paris, civil society organizations (CSOs) have stepped in to offer social, medical, and psychological care to unprotected UMs. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic however, CSOs had to adapt their care provision.We review promising CSO-led initiatives to ensure continuity of care for this population. In doing so, we highlight how, by promoting UMs' healthy behaviors in the context of the pandemic, continued social interactions between CSO members and unprotected UMs may have contributed to disease prevention among UMs. In addition, CSOs have continued to advocate for sheltering unprotected UMs, calling on public authorities to take action.