Friday Newsletter
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Dear Centre Leaders,
In today's newsletter:
  • INDEPTH Board elects new Chair
  • Stark regional and sex differences in prevalence and awareness of hypertension
  • DELTAS Africa call reminder
  • USAID Ghana builds capacity of KHRC staff
  • Why there’s no decline in newborn deaths in Uganda
1. INDEPTH Board elects new Chair
 
Prof. Tumani Corrah.
The INDEPTH Network Board of Trustees meeting in Dubai on 15 March 2017 elected Prof. Tumani Corrah as the Board Chair. He takes over from Prof. Peter Byass who acted interim Board Chair from November 2016 after Prof. Marcel Tanner stepped down during INDEPTH 2016 Annual General Meeting in Kampala, Uganda.
 
Prof. Corrah is the Director of the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) and also MRC’s Foundation Director of Africa Research Development and the first Emeritus Director of the Medical Research Council Unit (MRC), The Gambia. He has over thirty years of progressively senior-level experience in a leading research institution in Africa – the MRC Unit in The Gambia. There, he rose through the ranks to the position of Unit Director, a position he held through many challenges for over ten years.
 
2. Stark regional and sex differences in prevalence and awareness of hypertension
There is a high prevalence of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, yet few large studies exploring hypertension in Africa are available. The actual burden of disease is poorly understood and awareness and treatment to control it is often suboptimal. This study sought to report the prevalence of measured hypertension and to assess awareness and control of blood pressure among older adults in rural and urban settings in 6 sites located in West, East, and Southern Africa. In addition, researchers examined regional, sex, and age differences related to hypertension.
 
The study has demonstrated that the prevalence of hypertension and the level of disease awareness differ not only between but also within sub-Saharan African countries. Each nation must tailor their regional hypertension awareness and screening programmes to match the characteristics of their local populations. Read more
3.  DELTAS Africa call reminder
This is a reminder that the deadline for the DELTAS Africa Call for DELTAS Africa - Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) MSc fellowships in Biostatistics for 2017 Academic Year that we shared earlier is 31ST JULY 2017.
See details : Attachment 1
                     Attachment 2
News from Centres
1. Kintampo HDSS:
USAID Ghana builds capacity of KHRC staff
Dr. Godwin Afenyadu.
USAID Ghana organised a two-day training workshop for research staff of the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) from 16 to 17 February, 2017 on the theme “Knowledge Management and Translation for Researchers”. The purpose of the workshop was to build the capacity of researchers and research institutions to manage their knowledge capital, and communicate research findings in a manner that is easily understood, valued, and utilized for decision making by constituents in health policy formulation and practice.
 
The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Godwin Afenyadu, the Senior Capacity Development Advisor of USAID Ghana Evaluate for Health Project and Prof. Frank Nyanotor, the Project Director. In attendance was Mrs. Mercy Abbey from the Research and Development Division of the Ghana Health Service.In the opening address, Dr. Kwaku Poku Asante, the Head of Research at KHRC welcomed the workshop organisers and thanked them for coming to KHRC for such an important training. Read more
 
2. MNHR
Why there’s no decline in newborn deaths in Uganda
Prof. Peter Waiswa.
A day after the release of Uganda’s Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2016  key indicator findings, Associate Prof. Peter Waiswa, the leader of INDEPTH Maternal and Newborn Health Working Group gives some insight into why the country’s newborn mortality is stuck and shares what he thinks needs to be done.Read more
Policy Engagement and Communications