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. ISSP helps reduce expertise gap in population studies in Africa

Nineteen students from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Chad and Togo were awarded Masters degrees from the Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP) of the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso at a recent ceremony.

The ISSP runs the Ouagadougou Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), a member of the INDEPTH Network. The Guest of Honour, Mr. Loada Augustine, who is the Minister of Public Service, presented 12 certificates(Masters in Health and Population) and seven in a Masters degree in Population Science Research.

Speaking on behalf of the graduates, Dr. Joachim Aime Cacko, thanked the ISSP for the opportunity given to them to further their education.

In his welcoming address, the Director of ISSP, Prof. Jean-François Kobiané (pictured), said a total of 205 students from 15 countries have been trained by the institute at Masters level, 165 in Population and Health, and 40 in  Population Science Research.

“This shows our commitment to fill the gap in education and training in African countries”, Prof. Kobiané said.
In another development, 50 heads of institutions, projects and programmes met at the ISSP recently for a strategy meeting aimed at increasing awareness on the various training opportunities offered by the ISSP.

The institute made presentations on its various training programmes including: Masters in Population and Health; Masters in Population Science Research; Professional Degree in Social Statistics; Statistics Training Modules Applied to Social Sciences; training in Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects and Programmes; Training Application and Participatory Monitoring andEvaluation; Impact-oriented Management and Regional Training in Gender.

2. New technology transforms cellphone into microscope to spot malaria

A new low-cost technology that transforms a cellphone into a powerful, mobile microscope could significantly improve malaria diagnoses and treatment in developing countries, scientists say.

The technology includes an add-on device, which is similar in look and feel to a protective phone case.

It makes use of a smartphone's camera to produce high-resolution images of objects 10 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair, said Gerard Cote, professor of biomed.

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48774398.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

2. Vacancy: Head of Surveillance – Kilifi Research Programme

This post is required to co-ordinate a diverse and large programme of epidemiological and demographic surveillance. The post will also oversee and co-ordinate the activities of fieldworkers engaged in surveillance in the community and health-care facilities (including hospitals and dispensaries). The post will be based within a scientific department (i.e. Epidemiology and Demography) and report to the Departmental Chair and to the Programme Director & nbsp; We are moving to unify the management of our surveillance platform and this new post (i.e. Head of Surveillance) will support that transition.

Please see attached for details.

. 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.