AGBOVILLE -

From Monday 21 to Friday 25 February 2022, doctor-surgeon trainers from various backgrounds (Bongouanou, Tiassalé, Divo, Akoupé, Abengourou, Sikensi, Abidjan), met in the health district of Agboville, as part of a training workshop in hydrocele surgery according to the standards and techniques recommended by the WHO

In partnership with the Ministry in charge of Health and Public Hygiene of Côte d'Ivoire through the National Program for the Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (PNLMTN) with preventive chemotherapy, the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d'Ivoire through the DOLF-NEXTGEN project initiated this workshop which will be held from 21 to 25 February 2022. 

 Its objective is to constitute and strengthen the capacities of a pool of 8 surgeons, 2 anesthetists and 2 members of the PNLMTN in the efficient management of hydroceles through quality surgeries. 

According to Dr. Adama GUIRA, the surgeon-trainer, specialist in hydrocele of filarial origin, who came especially from Burkina-Faso to provide this training, this activity is of paramount importance insofar as it will shed light on the origin (long ignored) of hydrocele because this disease had not been associated with the origin of filarial lymphopathy that we have in our countries. Also, taking into account this factor will allow to improve the surgical management of patients with hydrocele. 

According to WHO, more than 25 million people in the world are affected by this disease and Africa is the most affected because of the poverty of the populations which consequently limits their access to medical care. This theoretical training of the pool was followed by a practical phase, i.e. operations on patients with hydrocele. The identification and mobilization of the patients was ensured by the project coordinator, Dr. Ouattara Allassane (CSRS and Nanguy Abrogoua University). The patients were operated on free of charge at the Agboville Regional Hospital.  "After certification of the consultant, these trained surgeons will also be trainers of other surgeons in all health districts of the country. This will allow a better management of complications of lymphatic filariasis, especially hydroceles in operating theatres", announced Dr. Brahima KOUMA, doctor in charge of the management of morbidities at the PNLMTN. 

Lymphatic filariasis, the subject of this meeting, is a real health problem in Côte d'Ivoire. It is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes and is one of the 5 pathologies taken in charge by the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage. 

About twenty surgeons and health professionals participated in this training. Dr. Catherine BJERUM from Case Western University in Cleveland and Dr. Philip BUDGE from Washington University in St. Louis, an American specialist in infectious diseases, came for this occasion. 

Death to Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis (DOLF) is a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through Washington University in St. Louis. The Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques has been working with DOLF since 2014, including researching alternative treatments to accelerate the eradication of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. Professor Benjamin G. KOUDOU, Director of Research and Development, specialist in clinical research and vector control at CSRS is the principal investigator (PI). 

In the practical phase, the teams of surgeons treated seventeen (17) cases, thus giving back a smile to these people suffering from this disabling pathology which, in addition to making them suffer in their flesh, prevented them from working; exposing them to great social ostracisation. 

The Ministry of Health, through its representatives, did not fail to encourage more partnerships of this type for the well-being of the population.

A.K.