Friday Newsletter
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Dear Centre Leaders,
In today's newsletter:
  • INDEPTH CST manager, Makerere team discuss HDSS strengthening
  • DELTAS Africa call reminder
  • Comparison between Census and HDSS outputs for two districts in Ghana 
  • Community readiness for adopting mHealth in rural Bangladesh
1. INDEPTH CST manager, Makerere team discuss HDSS strengthening
 
INDEPTH Network Capacity Strengthening and Training Manager (CST), Dr. Martin Bangha (centre) this week paid a courtesy call on the Makerere University Centre for Health and Population Research (MUCHAP) and  Iganga/Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IMHDSS) team, Dr. Dan Kajungu Kateeba (left) and Edward Galiwango (right), at the Makerere University Liaison office in Kampala, Uganda. They discussed different issues including strengthening the HDSS technical competence in various areas, working with national statistics office for comparative analyses and synthesis of outputs, cross site analyses among others. Dr. Kateeba is the Executive Director of MUCHAP and Center Leader of Iganga/Mayuge HDSS.
 
2.  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 March 2017.
See details : Attachment 1
                     Attachment 2
News from Centres
 1. Navrongo HDSS:
Comparison between Census and HDSS outputs for two districts in Ghana 
Dr. Abraham Oduro, Navrongo Centre Leader.
 Considering the importance of reliable and accurate demographic data for development planning and the errors often associated with census data in Africa, this paper examines the level of consistency of reporting between the 2010 Ghana Population Census and the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) for Kasena-Nankana East Municipal and Kassena-Nankana West district in the Republic of Ghana.
 
The researchers apply data evaluation techniques to assess data quality and adopt Test of Proportions to examine differences between the two data systems. The results show some level of consistency between the Census and HDSS data relative to age-sex distribution, crude death rate and mortality pattern. However, the HDSS data suggest relatively better reporting than the Census. They conclude that the large differences observed in some indicators need to be interrogated further to identify their sources so as to allow for improvement in quality of subsequent waves of data collection. Read more
 
2. Chakaria HDSS:
Community readiness for adopting mHealth in rural Bangladesh
There are increasing numbers of mHealth initiatives in middle and low income countries aimed at improving health outcomes. Bangladesh is no exception with more than 20 mobile health (mHealth) initiatives in place. A recent study in Bangladesh examined community readiness for mHealth using a framework based on quantitative data. Given the importance of a framework and the complementary role of qualitative exploration, this paper presents data from a qualitative study which complements findings from the quantitative study. 

The study was conducted in the Chakaria sub-district of Bangladesh. Community members, community leaders and healthcare providers expressed their interest in the use of mHealth in rural Bangladesh. Awareness of mHealth and its advantages was low among uneducated people. Participants who have used mHealth were attracted to the speed of access to qualified healthcare providers, time savings and low cost. Some participants did not see the value of using mobile phones for healthcare compared to a face-to-face consultation. Illiteracy, lack of English language proficiency, lack of trust and technological incapability were identified as barriers to mHealth use. However, a sense of ownership, evidence of utility, a positive attitude to the use of mHealth, and intentions towards future use of mHealth were driving forces in the adoption of mHealth services. This study re-affirmed the mHealth readiness conceptual framework with different dimensions of readiness and identified potential barriers and possible solutions for mHealth. Moving forward, emphasis should be placed on training users, providing low-cost services and improving trust of users. .Read more
Policy Engagement and Communications