Training and Refresher in Ultrasound for Diagnosis of Morbidity due to S. haematobium Infection

A Follow-Up to the 2004 Training in Niger

In September 2004, a training workshop was held in Niamey, Niger, on the use of ultrasound for the diagnosis of morbidity due to S.haematobium. The workshop was held for the SCI supported Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminth Control Programmes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The aim was to train two candidates from each country to undertake the ultrasound examinations, forming the morbidity component of the monitoring and evaluation studies which are an essential part of the control programmes. The trained ultrasonographers went on to support the national control programmes.

The four trained ultrasonographers from Mali and Niger have since continued supporting the annual ultrasound monitoring of the cohorts in their respective countries. However, the two ultrasonographers from Burkina Faso have since become unavailable, leaving Burkina Faso’s national control programme without any ultrasound specialists.

To ensure and refine the level of skills required by the ultrasonographers in Mali and Niger and to correct this lack of expertise in Burkina Faso,two experienced ultrasonographers, Dr. Adama Keita (Mali) and Dr. Amadou Garba (Niger), agreed to supervise a refresher training session and to offer a full training course to two newly identified Burkinabe ultrasonographers. The refresher training in Mali and Niger was successfully completed in May.

The national control programme in Mali and Niger now both have ultrasound specialists who need no supervision they will continue to support the cohort follow-ups for the SCI’s monitoring and evaluations studies.

The final course will be carried out as soon as two new ultrasonographers have been identified by the Ministry of Health in Burkina Faso.