Friday Newsletter
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Dear Centre Leaders,
In today's newsletter:
  • Staff review progress and 2017 plans at retreat
  • World Malaria Report 2016
  • Want to be a Next Einstein Forum Fellow?
  • Plan of Action to strengthen school health programs
  • Partnership should lead to setting up of model health systems 
1. Staff review progress and 2017 plans at retreat
INDEPTH Resource and Training Centre staff during the retreat.
The INDEPTH Resource and Training Centre held its annual staff retreat on 16 December 2016 at Ampomaah Hotel in Accra, Ghana. The retreat was to review activities of the Network for 2016 as well as finalise the work plans for 2017. The team also worked on issues raised at the recently ended INDEPTH Annual General Meeting that was held in Kampala, Uganda.

All departmental managers: General Administration, Finance, General Projects and ICT, Grants Management, Capacity Strengthening and Training, Science and Policy Engagement and Communications made presentations on behalf of their sections. Read more
2. INDEPTH ED receives SWISS TPH visitors
Prof. Don de Savigny and Dr. Nicolas Maire from Swiss TPH in Switzerland (second left and right respectively) visited the Accra Resource and Training Centre on 15 December 2016 for a meeting with the Executive Director Prof. Osman Sankoh (second right) and Manager for General Projects and Information Systems Titus Tei (left).

Prof. Don de Savigny anchors the Data-for-Health initiative, which is Bloomberg Foundation’s programme to support the strengthening of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in Africa and Asia. INDEPTH is a partner in some activities of the programme. Don de Savigny is also a member of the INDEPTH Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).  Read more
3. World Malaria Report 2016: 
Malaria control improves for vulnerable in Africa, but global progress off-track
WHO’s World Malaria Report 2016 has been released. The report reveals that children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa have greater access to effective malaria control. Across the region, a steep increase in diagnostic testing for children and preventive treatment for pregnant women has been reported over the last 5 years. Among all populations at risk of malaria, the use of insecticide-treated nets has expanded rapidly.

But in many countries in the region, substantial gaps in programme coverage remain. Funding shortfalls and fragile health systems are undermining overall progress, jeopardizing the attainment of global targets. Read more
4.  Want to be a Next Einstein Forum Fellow?
Applications are now open for Africans from around the world– including those who currently reside in the Diaspora – who want to be Next Einstein Forum Fellows.
  • Applications from all fields of science, including the social sciences and technology fields are welcome. 
  • Applicants should be under 42 years old and have a doctorate degree with a demonstrated track record of innovative research and findings. 
  • NEF Fellows must also be passionate about raising Africa’s science profile and be able to captivate both a scientific and non-scientific audiences.
News from Centres
1. Nairobi HDSS: 
Plan of Action to strengthen school health programs
Caroline Kabiru.
Recognizing that schools serve as a critical avenue to reach adolescents with health information and services, the Nairobi City County (NCC), with support from the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and Population Council, launched a Plan of Action to strengthen school health programs that has been two years in the making. The Plan spells out concrete steps to increase implementation of Kenya’s School Health Policy, which includes age-appropriate content across eight thematic areas, including access to health information and services. However, content on sexual and reproductive health is often missed for reasons including teachers’ discomfort with the material or feeling ill prepared to cover the subject matter responsibly. Instead, they focus on thematic areas such as nutrition or sanitation, or skip the content altogether.
 
APHRC’s Associate Research Scientist Dr. Joyce Mumah expressed optimism that the willingness and cooperation to develop the Plan of Action will flow over into the implementation phase. “The first step is to give students they tools they need to prevent unplanned pregnancies. When that is not possible, students should be supported during and after their pregnancies to continue their education.” Read more
2. Navrongo HDSS:
Partnership should lead to setting up of model health systems 
Section of traditional chiefs at the meeting.
Traditional rulers and major stakeholders in health research in the Kassena-Nankana traditional area in Ghana's Upper East Region have been called upon to work towards the setting up of model health systems in the Kassena-Nankana districts with demand side bottlenecks reduced to the minimum.

The Regional Director of Health Services for the Upper East Region, Dr. Kofi Issah made the call while delivering a keynote address at a one-day dissemination forum held at the Dr. A.B Adda International Conference Hall of the Navrongo Health Research Centre on recently. Read more
Policy Engagement and Communications