Friday Newsletter
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Dear Centre Leaders,
We hope you have had a good week.
We have the following items for your attention:
  • INDEPTH strategic planning meeting ends in Johannesburg
  • Scientists from TDR visit KHRC
  • Faecal contamination of both hands – a cause for concern for Bangladesh commuters?
  • PNGIMR meets country’s need of data for development
  • Kilifi HDSS goes paperless…
1. INDEPTH strategic planning meeting ends in Johannesburg
The Head of Wits University School of Public Health Prof Laetitia Rispel (centre) poses for a photograph with INDEPTH Working Groups, Strategic Groups and Project Leaders; some INDEPTH SAC members, INDEPTH Executive Director and Secretariat staff; Wits University and Agincourt HDSS staff, and invited experts during the 4-5 August 2016 INDEPTH Strategic Planning meeting at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

The objective of the meeting, with 26 participants, was to brainstorm and deliberate on emerging opportunities, targets and future strategic directions for groups, projects and the Network.

The meeting also reviewed achievements and challenges, agreed on common procedures to render the Network, Working and Strategic Groups, projects and the Network more effective.  The meeting also discussed at length potential policy implications.
News from our member centres
1.  Scientists from TDR visit KHRC
Dr Seth Owusu-Agyei, Director of KHRC (right) and Dr Margaret Gyapong, Director of DHRC (left) interacting with the TDR officials.
The Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) hosted  a team of renowned scientists from TDR , the WHO's  Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (Dr Olumide Ogundahunsi and Dr Juono Okorosobo). They were accompanied by Dr. Margaret Gyapong, Director of the Dodowa Health Research Centre (DHRC).

TDR as part of the UNDP/WHO/PATH Access and Delivery Partnership (ADP) has been working with the Research and Development Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to build capacity for Implementation research (IR) as part of its strategy to improve access and delivery of interventions against malaria, TB and the NTDs. Read more
2. Faecal contamination of both hands – a cause for concern for Bangladesh commuters?
An icddr,b study has found that both the left and right hands of Dhaka commuters are equally contaminated with faecal bacteria. Although there is a cultural stigma around using the left hand in Bangladesh, the study suggests that cultural practices do little to stop the spread of germs, as both hands are equally contaminated.

The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) is an INDEPTH member centre in Bangladesh. Read more
3. PNGIMR meets country’s need of data for development
The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) can provide data for the country to use for effective planning for development.
This follows a series of successful outcomes from a health demography study carried out by the Institute where the study was able to identify and report health along with other development indicators.

The integrated Health and Demography Surveillance System (iHDSS) study is being carried out by the Institute’s Partnership in Health Project (PiHP) through funding from ExxonMobil.  

The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) is an INDEPTH member centre in Papua New Guinea. Read more 
4.  Kilifi HDSS goes paperless…
For over ten years the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System, the largest in Africa, has been collecting routine surveillance data using paper-based systems.

Spanning over 891 km2 and covering a population of 280,000 inhabitants (December 2015), the Kilifi Health Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) now joins other DSS’s in electronic data capture (EDC) under the INDEPTH Network. Read more 
Policy Engagement and Communications