In the year two thousand and seventeen, the twenty-seventh day of January, a scientific day is held at the Royal Palace Hotel in Bujumbura. The theme of this day was “Research and innovation, the source of sustainable development”.
The day’s activities began with a welcome address by the IPROSARUDE Legal Representative to the guests. In turn, the delegate of the Minister of Public Health and fight against AIDS took the floor to deliver the opening speech of this day and expressed his gratitude for the initiative of IPROSARUDE in its contribution to improving the quality of rural health and development.
The delegate of the Minister of Public Health did not run out of time to encourage IPROSARUDE to always go ahead and that the Ministry of Public Health will spare no effort to support the efforts of this organization to contribute to the achievement of the actions contained in the national plan for the health development of Burundi, particularly in preventive care such as the promotion of cervical cancer screening in rural areas, promoting reproductive health among women in general and young people in particular, scientific research studies and many others. Finally, he opened the day to present the results of scientific research studies organized by IPROSARUDE.
After his speech, the legal representative of IPROSARUDE presented the organization “IPROSARUDE” regarding the history, vision and mission, the major achievements since its creation in 2010, the successes, challenges and lessons learned, the different partners and the prospects for the future. The young and adolescent friends of Cibitoke then presented a sketch on the theme “zero pregnancy in schools” while safeguarding gender equality in our Burundian society. Members of the IPROSARUDE research unit were then invited to present the studies that had already been carried out, including the study on knowledge, attitudes and practices on cervical cancer among women of childbearing age in the GITEGA health district.
This presentation highlighted the inadequacies of the knowledge of the word cervical cancer (53%), knowledge of the virus that causes this cancer (6%), with negative attitudes because often have beliefs to prevent the cancer, practices are almost non-existent. The ensuing presentation was a study of the impact of breastfeeding practices on nutritional status among children under two years of age in Burundi. The challenges associated with breastfeeding are enormous, as most women breastfeed before the child reaches the age of months and families sell everything the child needs for growth through breastfeeding. It was recommended that we should sensitize our mothers, especially the husbands, not to sell food products that the family needed to meet the basic needs of the child. The third study looked at the impact of human activities on Rusizi National Park and found that the species around Rusizi National Park are threatened as a result of human activities, in particular the cultivation of crops, but also the construction of houses, the wandering of wildlife and the overflowing of the lake.
A law prohibiting these activities along the Rusizi National Park has been put in place and local authorities are urged to ensure that the clauses of its content are respected. Finally, the last presentation was a summary of IPROSARUDE’s 2017-2020 strategic plan. After the presentations, there was a series of exchanges where the participants asked different questions about the topics presented and formulated recommendations. Afterwards, the legal representative took the floor to thank once again everyone for having actively participated in the activities of the scientific day and thanked all the partners especially those who had contributed to the success of this day including Care International, ALCHEM, ABACUS PHARMA so that the day could unfold well.
The ceremonies closed at 6:30 p. m. with a cocktail gathering all the guests and a drumming dance.
Attended by the following representatives:
- spokesperson and assistant to the Ministry of Public Health and fight against AIDS
- Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior,
- The governors of the provinces of Cibitoke and Bubanza.
- Medical directors of the provincial health offices in Gitega, Karuzi, Cibitoke, Bubanza.
- Coordinator of the Joint Program of Care International,
- Country Director of URC,
- Country Director of Life Net,
- Representative of Pathfinder,
- Representative of Cordaid,
- Representative of the Swiss Tropical Institute,
- Representative of PSI,
- Representative of CRS,
- Representative of IOM,
- Representative of Chemonics,
- Representative of UNICEF,
- Representative of WHO,
- Representative of the World Bank,
- Representative of the Belgian Embassy,
- Representatives from IMC, Red Cross, SACODE, Foi en Action (Faith in Action), Population Center Media, BCB,ALCHEM,ABACUS
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