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1. All set for Africa’s largest demographic studies project
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South Africa's government has announced that it will expand the country’s existing demographic studies to create a project that will be the largest of its kind in Africa — tracking the health, income, and educational attainment of around 1% of South Africa’s population.
The Department of Science and Technology estimates that it will put 264 million rand (US$19 million) into the demographic project over the next five years, which will eventually cover at least half a million people. It has secured the funding for its first three years; the rest will need to be allocated in future government budgets. Read more
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2. INDEPTH IN THE BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
Beyond open data: realising the health benefits of sharing data
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As little as a decade ago, many researchers working in global health recoiled at the idea that they should openly share individual patient data with one another. Now, data sharing is being herded into the mainstream by pioneering researchers, with added pressure from funders, medicine regulatory authorities, public health agencies, and medical journals. But even those researchers most willing to share data are given little guidance on how that should happen, and the practice is still unusual, especially in low and middle income countries.
Concerns continue to be raised that data sharing will lead to data being analysed by rich institutions in industrialised countries while researchers in poorer countries with the highest burdens of infectious disease will lose control of their data and get little in return. Some fear that data sharing might harm patients and communities by breaching confidentiality, that the infrastructure is not up to it, and there is nowhere safe to put shared data. Read more
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1. Network represented at Gates, AAS meeting
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Profs. Michele Ramsay and Peter Waiswa were among researchers who took part in a roundtable discussion Precision Public Health in Africa hosted by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) on 7 October 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Dr.Susan Desmond-Hellmann and AAS Director Dr. Tom Kariuki were among participants of the meeting.
The roundtable brought together African researchers to explore the challenges and opportunities around precision public health on the continent. Participants discussed which areas of public health would benefit the most from contemporary tech-science-data-driven methods. The gathering also gave participants a chance to share ideas on best practices around African public health. Read more
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2. Nouna centre participates in World Health Summit
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Dr. Ali Sie (right) with other delegates in Berlin.
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The Director of the Nouna Health Research Centre (NSRF) in Burkina Faso, Dr. Ali Sie, was among delegates of the World Heath Summit held in Berlin, Germany, from 9 - 11 October 2016. The World Health Summit is a health care conference on global health policy development. Dr. Sie made two presentations.
Held annually in Berlin, during October, it gathers leaders from academia, science, politics and industry as well as stakeholders from the private sector and civil society. The summit began in 2009 on the occasion of the 300th year anniversary of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The founders recognized that whilst similar gatherings of leaders were well established in fields such as economic development and technology, a global forum did not exist for medical practice, research and health care systems. Read more
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Policy Engagement and Communications
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