| Dear Centre Leaders,
Greetings from the INDEPTH Secretariat. We hope you have had a good week.
We have the following items for your attention:
1. INDEPTH team among mortality statistics experts meeting in Cairo
The INDEPTH team at the Cairo meeting,
from left: Amek Nyaguara, Amri Shamte, Martin Bangha, Karim Derra, Peter Sifuna and Nega Assefa
Over 50 experts were in Cairo, Egypt, from September 28 for a four- day meeting on Mortality Statistics in Africa jointly convened by the WHO, Africa Symposium on Statistical Development (ASSD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
In addition to delegates from WHO, ASSD and UNECA, others came from the Global Fund, World Bank, CDC – US, Ministries of Health and Statistical Offices (Sierra Leone and South Africa). There are seven representatives from the INDEPTH Network, with the member centres in brackets: Karim Derra (Nanoro, Burkina Faso), Gashaw Biks (Dabat, Ethiopia), Nega Assefa (Kersa, Ethiopia), Amek O Nyaguara (Kisumu, Kenya), Peter Sifuna (Kombewa, Kenya) and Amri Shamte (Ifakara, Tanzania) and Martin Bangha from INDEPTH Secretariat.
The purpose of the meeting was to gather African experts in mortality statistics collections together to collaborate on new technical guidance to be provided to countries for designing better mortality statistics systems; and develop a pool of available experts to deploy to countries to support technical improvement and results in mortality data collections, especially for death registration, hospital deaths and integrating systems for community deaths.
Read more http://indepth-network.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2004
2. Top journals editors at ISC
  The Editor In Chief of the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal Dr Justine Davies (left) and the editor of The Lancet Global Health, Zoë Mullan (right) will attend the 2015 ISC in Addis Ababa in November 2015. The ISC programme has provided time so that researchers do not miss this rare opportunity of interacting with the editors of top health journals. Dr Davies has been an editor at The Lancet since 2010, starting as a Senior Editor and then as an Executive Editor. She trained as a physician and has a research and clinical practice background in diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Zoe Mullan joined The Lancet in 1999 and became Editor of The Lancet Global Health in 2013.
3. Osman, Steve present at Wellcome
Prof. Sankoh presenting
Prof. Tollman presenting
The INDEPTH Executive Director Prof. Osman Sankoh and Prof. Steve Tollman, Principal Scientist at INDEPTH and Head of South Africa’s Agincourt HDSS, this week made presentations at the Wellcome Trust's Genome Campus in Hinxton, Cambridge, UK, in a researchers' meeting where those funded by the Trust present their work and benefit from colleagues' contributions.
Earlier today, Prof Sankoh presented "INDEPTH: Upgrading HDSS to CHESS" in a session chaired by Prof. Mike Tunner, the new head of the population ?section at Wellcome Trust who is responsible for INDEPTH. Prof. Tollman's presentation, on Thursday, was "Ageing in Africa: building evidence to enhance health, wellbeing and function".
4. INDEPTH hosts visitors from Bloomberg Data Initiative
The INDEPTH Executive Director Prof. Osman Sankoh (left) on 28 September 2015 held discussions with Prof. Don de Savigny from Swiss TPH in Switzerland (right), the anchor of the Innovations Component of the recently announced Bloomberg Foundation grant, a $100 million Data-for-Health initiative that will support the strengthening of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in Africa and Asia.
INDEPTH Network is a key partner in this.
Through this imitative, it is expected that 1 billion people on at least 20 low-and middle-income countries and cities will have the benefit of more and better health data for policymaking. Select countries will also have the opportunity to participate in the NCD surveys and surveillance component, providing them with current data to evaluate and improve their existing NCD strategies and implement new programmes where required. Others in the picture are Dr Magdalena Paczkowski (second right) from the Union North America, Titus Tei (centre) from INDEPTH Secretariat and Dr Gay Bronson (second left), also from the Union North America.
5. INDEPTH ED commends Gates Foundation for support
Workshop participants, from left, Dr. Yadeta Bacha (Kersa HDSS, Ethiopia), Dr. Rouselle Lavado (World Bank Group, USA), David Mbulumi (INDEPTH Network), Dr. Tessa Edejer (WHO, Geneva), Dr.James Akazili (INDEPTH Secretariat), Dr. Floress Gabriella (WHO, Geneva) and Dr. Gibert Abiiro (Univeristy of Development Studies, Ghana). Dr. Patrick Asuming (University of Ghana), is missing in the picture.
The INDEPTH Executive Director Prof. Osman Sankoh has expressed gratitude to the Gates Foundation for giving grant support to the Network for research studies.
Prof. Sankoh said this on 29 September 2015 in his opening remarks to the four-day meeting of INDEPTH's iHOPE Project in Accra, Ghana.
The iHOPE Project, which is funded by the Gates Foundation, aims at improving estimation of Out-of-Pocket expenses (OOPs) in a household survey, develop a set of questions to facilitate OOP specific disease measurement, test and develop alternative approaches to Household surveys and provide a socio-economic context to interpret OOPs.
Out-of-Pocket expenses (OOPs) refer to expenses for medical care that one has to pay out of one's pocket. The expenses are paid in addition to monthly premium for health insurance. The world spent nearly 7 trillion dollars on health care in 2011, whilst the share of Out-of-Pocket payment was less than 15% of total health care expenditure on health, low income countries' OOP share was nearly 50% of total health care expenditure.
Read more http://indepth-network.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002
6. ISC/AGM 2015 Registration
 All sites/centres that have not registered for the ISC 2015 are encouraged to do so.
The ISC will take place from 11 - 13, November 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Arrival: 10 November 2015, Departure : 14 November 2015
Annual General Meeting: 14 November 2015 for Centre Leaders (Departure : 15 November 2015)
The registration link is http://indepth-network.org/isc2015.php
Please note that it is a membership requirement to attend the AGM in Addis Ababa.
Programme: Please see the draft programme of the ISC/AGM 2015 attached and kindly circulate. Note that we have scheduled special sessions for editors of world’s leading health and scientific journals.You can also download here. |
News from our member centres
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1. icddr,b unveils future life-saving technologies for global health goals at the UN General
icddr,b, an INDEPTH member, unveiled future life-saving technologies to leading scientists and donors on 26 September at an event at the Westin Grand Central in New York during the UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015.
These icddr,b innovations are low cost, local solutions to some of the world’s most intractable health problems—malnutrition, pneumonia, emerging infectious diseases, and maternal mortality—that claim the lives of millions in the developing world.
Some of these promising life-saving solutions being researched and tested by icddr,b scientists at their main research campus in Dhaka include:
- A mass immunisation drive against cholera that could protect millions with a low cost vaccine;
- A low cost oxygen therapy unit for doctors to prevent child deaths from pneumonia;
- Human milk pasteurisation machines at factories that support female garment workers to breastfeed their infants;
- A biodegradable birthing mat for home deliveries that warns of dangerous blood loss; and
- A lifesaving therapeutic food product made with local ingredients for severely malnourished babies.
Read more http://www.icddrb.org/media-centre/news?id=750
2. Uncovered: Low availability of some contraceptives in the Ga East municipality of Ghana
A young Research Fellow of the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC), Kwame Adjei, and his team of researchers in a comparative study conducted in the Ga East municipality of Ghana on the availability of modern contraceptives in both private and public health facilities has brought to light the low availability of some contraceptives particularly the female condom and LARC methods. KHRC is an INDEPTH member.
Read more http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/12/1/68
3. APHRC's New Policy Engagement and Communications Director
 Lauren Gelfand has joined APHRC as the Director of the Policy Engagement and Communications division, effective October 1, 2015. Her appointment to this role represents the fulfilment of a commitment made by the organization for the strategic period 2012-2016 to deepen its engagement with policy-makers and decision-makers and to expand its visibility at the global level.
The appointment of a director for the PEC division is a signal of APHRC’s intention to have a bigger impact on the decisions being made at the country and regional levels in the areas of health, education, urbanization and aging; to demonstrate that as the premier African research institution APHRC can and should be at the forefront of efforts to develop African solutions to African problems, predicated on a solid base of evidence. With this appointment APHRC is also moving beyond the traditional program-support role for their policy and communications team, expanding their roles and responsibilities and elevating the Unit to its rightful place as a key contributor to discussions about APHRC strategic direction. |
