Friday Newsletter
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Dear Centre Leaders,
In today's newsletter:INDEPTH team participates in Harvard climate change workshops
  • Risk assessment an integral part of an organisation, says INDEPTH ED
  • Assessing the catastrophic effects of out-of-pocket healthcare payments in Ghana
  • Research capacity building—obligations for global health Partners
  • icddr,b scientific advisor awarded medal for cholera research
  • SA: Youth migration, livelihood prospects and demographic dividend
1. Risk assessment an integral part of an organisation, says INDEPTH ED
INDEPTH Executive Director, Prof. Osman Sankoh giving a presentation on risk matrix to staff.
The INDEPTH Executive Director Prof. Osman Sankoh on Friday 5 May 2007 led a meeting of staff of the Resource and Training Centre in Accra to develop a risk assessment matrix for the oganisation. The tool allows quick view of the probable risks evaluated in terms of the likelihood or probability of the risk and the severity of the consequences.
Prof. Sankoh told staff that risk assessment was an integral part of an organisation and demonstrated how a Risk Assessment Matrix works. This was followed by a discussion on potential risk areas. Work to develop the risk assessment matrix will continue until the end of May when the final matrix will be submitted to the INDEPTH Board of Trustees for review and endorsement. Read more
2. Assessing the catastrophic effects of out-of-pocket healthcare payments prior to the uptake of a nationwide health insurance scheme in Ghana
Dr. James Akazili. He manages INDEPTH project on estimation of OOP expenditure.
Financial risk protection against the cost of unforeseen healthcare has gained global attention in recent years. Although Ghana implemented a nationwide health insurance scheme with a goal of reducing financial barriers to accessing healthcare and addressing impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments, there is a paucity of knowledge on the extent of financial catastrophe of such payments in Ghana. Read more
3. Research capacity building—obligations for global health Partners
 
Global health continues to gain pace as a discipline, as is evident from the amount of funding available for challenges relevant to low-income and middle income countries (LMICs) and the growth of journals in this field. This growth has been driven in no small part by the targets and indicators of the Millennium Development Goals. Successes towards achieving these goals, however, have often come from expertise, funding, and ideas flowing from high income countries (HICs) to LMICs; with HIC players being accused of parachuting in to LMICs to act or set up state of the art, HIC led and staffed facilities. This neo-colonialist model means that despite the scale of capital inflows, huge gaps in infrastructure, management systems, and human capital remain for health systems, government and governance structures, and research institutes in LMICs. Read more
 
News from Centres
 1. Icddrb:
     icddr,b scientific advisor awarded Albert Sabin Gold Medal for cholera research
 
icddrb’s Profs. Holmgren (left) and John Clemens.
icddr,b scientific advisory group (SAG) chair Professor Jan Holmgren received the 2017 Albert B Sabin Gold Medal Award in recognition of his pioneering work in mucosal immunology and leadership in the development of world’s first oral cholera vaccine (OCV).
 
At the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. this April, icddr,b Executive Director Professor John D Clemens MD presented the award to Professor Holmgren, currently professor of medical microbiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and also the founding director of the University of Gothenburg Vaccine Research Institute. Read more
2. Youth migration, livelihood prospects and demographic dividend: A comparison of the Census 2011 and Agincourt

A group of youths in South Africa.
The 2011 South African national census shows a cohort of young adults comprising an increasing share of the population. This finding is borne out in longitudinal data from the Agincourt HDSS. This primarily descriptive paper uses the Agincourt HDSS to examine the migration, employment and unemployment patterns in young adults. The study reveals high levels of temporary labour migration linking rural  areas to metropolitan areas and secondary urban places.
 
The type of work conducted by young adults in the Agincourt population is predominantly unskilled labour for both sexes. However, there is some evidence of female employment increasing in more educated sectors. Across all working ages there is pronounced unemployment, but the main pressure is felt by the younger adult population. Education and skills development for both sexes should be strengthened to support the country’s efforts to vastly improve labour force participation amongst the youth. Read more
Policy Engagement and Communications