Friday Newsletter
View this email in your browser
Dear Centre Leaders,
Another weekend is here with us and we are excited to share the following news from the Resource Centre in Accra and from our member centre in Africa.
  •  New VA data analysis – a call for centre contributions
  • The INDEPTH Executive Director discusses the importance of population-based research for genomic research in a blog published by the journal Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics (GHEG)
  • The INDEPTH Executive Director joins the debate on the case for generalisability over representativeness
  • HDSS Sustainability – what’s the opinion of INDEPTH centre leaders?
1). New VA data analysis – a call for centre contributions

The INDEPTH Data Analysts Group is working on analysing both the iSHARE and the VA data to produce a report for INDEPTH’s 20th anniversary.

As you aware, the Network published 8 multi-centre papers in 2014 using interVA datasets from 22 HDSSs. Individual HDSSs from the 22 HDSSs also published HDSS specific papers. The link to the papers is below. 
llink to the papers

The 22 interVA-4 datasets were from the following HDSSs:

1.       African Centre   2.       Kilite
3.       Agincourt                 4.       Kisumu
5.       AMK                       6.       Matlab
7.       Ballabgarh                8.       Nairobi
9.       Bandarban                 10.   Navrongo
11.   Chakaria 12.   Niakhar
13.   Dodowa 14.   Nouna
15.   Farafenn 16.   Ouagadougou
17.   Filabavi    18.   Purworejo
19.   Karonga 20.   Taabo
21.   Kilifi    22.   Vadu
We have received new intervA-4 datasets from the following 8 HDSSs, making a total of 30 VA datasets.
1.      Butajira   5.       Kersa
2.      Chililab              6.       Kntampo
3.       Gilgel Gibe                       7.      Kombewa
4.       Rufiji                8.       Rakai


We are kindly requesting for the following:

For the proposed new analysis, we are requesting the latest datasets (up to 2016 as possible):

1. An updated  VA dataset from the  30 HDSSs whose datasets we already have; and
2.  All other HDSSs (13) to join this Network-wide analysis by submitting their datasets

Please submit the datasets and any queries to Samuelina Arthur by 22nd September, 2017  samuelina.arthur@indepth-network.org.
2) The INDEPTH Executive Director discusses the importance of population-based research for genomic research in a blog published by the journal Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics (GHEG)
Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are a growing public health concern in Africa. Diabetes prevalence has more than doubled since 1980 on the continent and is projected to double again by 2025. [1] Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among those over the age of thirty years. [2] Furthermore, in Southern and East Africa, high prevalence of HIV/AIDS coupled with increasing uptake of antiretroviral therapy adds complexity to risk and morbidity phenotypes for CMD. Read more
3) The INDEPTH Executive Director joins the debate on the case for generalisability over representativeness
In a new blog just published in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE), Eleonora Uphoff, Neil Small, Rosie McEachan and Kate Pickett discuss
 
The researchers write: “For some years, our research has been based in the city of Bradford in northern England. We are often asked to justify our research setting. There seems to be a concern that a cohort population that is not representative of the nation as a whole or of the ‘average person’ cannot produce valuable insights beyond its local setting. While such concerns are not new, they now seem more present, perhaps due to the rise of Big Data or the increased sharing of and access to data from national surveys and cohorts. Do these reservations represent a push for representativeness and generalisability in epidemiology? If so, this might come at the expense of research aiming to paint a more detailed picture of population health.” Read more
4)  HDSS Sustainability – what’s the opinion of INDEPTH centre leaders?

Late last year Kobus Herbst (AHRI, South Africa), Martin Bangha and Osman Sankoh (INDEPTH Resource and Training Centre) conducted a survey on HDSS Sustainability. The results were presented at the AGM in mid November in Kampala, Uganda. Since the issue of HDSS and Network sustainability remains topical, we are sharing with you the attached presentation and the summary of the results below:

  • Respondents agree that sustainability is an important issue both in general and for their HDSS in particular
  • Most see it as a longer term concern, but one third of respondents expressed an acute concern (2 years or less)
  • Fully two-thirds had sustainability concerns in the past
  • About 80% of centres have core HDSS funding, about half of which is short term (2 yrs or less)
  • National funding responsible for almost half of core funding
  • Two-thirds of respondents optimistic that they will obtain core funding in future
  • Respondents expect INDEPTH-mediated funding to be the most important contributor to future core funding, with multi-site projects an important sustainability strategy
Policy Engagement and Communications