Friday Newsletter
View this email in your browser
Dear Centre Leaders,
In todays newsletter:
  • Countdown to Kampala AGM 2016
  • Call for papers and posters: 28th International Population Conference in Cape Town, South Africa
  • Kintampo HDSS, Ghana Study finds low level of Hepatitis B awareness among pregnant women 
  • Matlab HDSS, Bangladesh: Diversifying agriculture and food key to ending persistent under-nutrition
  • Taabo HDSS, Cote d'Ivoire: CSRS-Eremitage Funds Award 2017 for Scientific Research in Partnership
1. Countdown to Kampala AGM 2016
 Speke Resort Munyonyo
Preparations for the 2016 INDEPTH Annual General Meeting are in final stages, and Centre Leaders have continued to confirm attendance.  The important annual event will take place at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala, Uganda, from 16-18 November 2016. 

The programme starts on 14 November with the meeting of the INDEPTH SAC that will receive and discuss a report from the Executive Director on research activities of the Network. This will include the Secretariat’s assessment of Strategic/Working/Interest Groups and Projects. The SAC will also review, edit and discuss of the proposed new Strategic Plan 2017-2021 before it is presented to the Board/Centre Leaders.  Read more
2.  Call for papers and posters: 28th International Population Conference in Cape Town, South Africa
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on behalf of the Republic of South Africa (RSA), will host the 28th International Population Conference (IPC) of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) in Cape Town, South Africa at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) from 29 October to 4 November 2017.

The International Population Conference will include over 240 regular scientific sessions, poster sessions and training sessions as well as plenary and debate sessions, side meetings and exhibits. Read more
News from Centres
3.  Kintampo HDSS, Ghana - Study finds low level of Hepatitis B awareness among pregnant women 
Over 2 billion people are infected with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and about 240 million are chronic carriers of the virus. Chronic HBV infection is an important cause of liver cancer. The infectivity of HBV is hundred times higher than the HIV virus yet it receives comparatively little attention in public health. The study by researchers from Kintampo Health Research Centre, an INDEPTH member centre and other collaborators assessed knowledge and awareness of HBV among pregnant women in the Kintampo Municipality of Ghana.

According to the study, there is a low level of knowledge and awareness of HBV among pregnant women in this municipality. This could potentially hamper effective HBV prevention and control in Ghana. Education on hepatitis B need to be included in health promotion activities. Read more
4.  Matlab HDSS, Bangladesh - Diversifying agriculture and food key to ending persistent under-nutrition
Despite improved food security and nutrition status in Bangladesh, under-nutrition due to poor diet quality lingers and this could end with a more diversified agricultural sector producing nutritious food for everyone.

A new strategic review of Food Security and Nutrition in Bangladesh by the World Food Programme (WFP), co-authored by icddr,b’s Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, has therefore called for investing heavily and effectively in food security and nutrition in Bangladesh. icddr,b is one of INDEPTH partner organisations. Read more
5. Taabo HDSS, Cote d'Ivoire - CSRS-Eremitage Funds Award 2017 for Scientific Research in Partnership
CSRS Director Prof. Bassirou Bonfoh
The award was created in 2001 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS), an INDEPTH member centre in Cote d’ Ivoire. The “CSRS-Eremitage Funds Price for Scientific Research in Partnership” is awarded every two years. From 2011 onwards the price was awarded with the financial support of the Eremitage Funds in Basel (Switzerland). The award is CHF 10,000 (ten thousand Swiss francs) for a team of two North-South or South-South researchers. The decision will be communicated early enough to allow the winners to attend the ceremony of the presentation of the Prize CSRS. 
Policy Engagement and Communications