MRC head visits INDEPTH on Ebola collaboration

The Director of Medical Research Council (MRC), an organization that played a very important role during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone visited INDEPTH Network Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, on 29 June 2014.

Mr. Abdul Jalloh and the INDEPTH Executive Director Prof. Osman Sankoh, discussed various avenues of collaboration including the use the INDEPTH platform to establish a new surveillance system in the Ebola hit areas in Sierra Leone. Primarily MRC is involved in community health and primary health care, operational research and human resources for health, ...Read more

INDEPTH ED holds discussions with Swiss TPH incoming Director

Prof. Osman Sankoh held brief discussions with Prof. Juerg Utzinger, the incoming Director of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Basel, Switzerland, during a short visit to the Institute on 22 June 2015. Prof. Utzinger takes over from Prof. Marcel Tanner, the Chair of the INDEPTH Board, who has led the Institute since July 1997.

Osman congratulated Juerg on his appointment to lead an Institute that has had global impact and continue to do so. Swiss TPH is the founding partner of Taabo HDSS in Cote d’Ivoire, a member of INDEPTH. Juerg assured the INDEPTH ED ... Read more

TDR holds Board meeting, INDEPTH invited

The Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network, Prof Osman Sankoh, represented the Network as an observer at the Joint Coordinating Board (JCB) of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).

The meeting was held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, from the 22 - 24 June 2015. TDR is a global programme of scientific collaboration that helps facilitate, support and influence efforts to combat diseases of poverty. TDR is hosted at the World Health Organisation (WHO), and is ... Read more

INDEPTH Board Chairman honoured

INDEPTH Network Board Chairman, Prof Marcel Tanner, was honoured by the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire with the ‘Ordre Du Mérite Ivoirien’ at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan during the period under review.

This decoration is one of the most prestigious in the country and rewards distinguished merits acquired in public, civil, military or private service.

"Marcel has made tremendous contributions .... Read more..

Group finalises plan for newborn health work

With new momentum behind improving metrics for newborn health, following from the Every Newborn Action Plan, the INDEPTH Maternal and Newborn Working Group held a meeting from 18 - 19 June 2015, in Kampala, Uganda, to finalise the group’s strategic plan, harmonise existing efforts, and identify opportunities for further collaboration.

The meeting which was funded by Save the Children and Children Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) had 37 participants from 15 HDSS in seven countries. Read more

INDEPTH Network Executive Director Prof Osman Sankoh participated in the MA4Health global summit which was convened by USAID, the World Health Organisation, and the World Bank Group.

The meeting which was held from 9 – 11 June 2015, brought together decision-makers, thought leaders, and implementers in Washington to advance a common agenda for post-2015 health measurement and to endorse .... Read more

From 8 – 12 June 2015, Data managers from 16 INDEPTH member centres participated in a five-day iSHARE workshop in Dubai, UAE.

iSHARE ( the INDEPTH Data Sharing and Access Repository) is an online, free-access archive of high quality datasets from member centres which facilitates data sharing by standard measuring tools and presentation formats.

The aim of the workshop was to assist member sites for the 1st July, 2015 release of the next version read more ...

The 3^rd The first meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of INDEPTH Network's iHOPE Project was held from 4 – 5 June 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The SAG, which is a group of international experts who provide independent scientific advice reviewed the iHOPE project's overall objectives and approved an agreed project design and implementation plan.

The iHOPE project, which is funded by the Gates Read more ...

Experts in fertility and family planning met in Accra from 2 - 4 June 2015 to review existing approaches to the conceptualisation and measurement of unintended pregnancy.

The meeting which was held at Labadi Beach Hotel was attended by 24 participants including representatives of INDEPTH Network and delegates from INDEPTH member centres - Ouagadougou and Nairobi HDSSs.

The meeting funded by USAID with a theme “ .... read more

INDEPTH marks World Environment Day

INTREC stakeholders meet in Accra

Zambia plays host to H3Africa meeting

Investigators for the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative shared updates on their projects during a meeting with partners and other project team members in Livingstone, Zambia from 8-12 May 2015.

Over 60 delegates attended the meeting which provided the opportunity for the investigators and Steering Committee to meet and consider the progress and direction of the Consortium. The INDEPTH Network Secretariat was represented by Senior Finance Manager Sixtus Apaliyah and Adam Osman... Read more

The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population Council presented the IUSSP Laureate award to the INDEPTH Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) member, Dr Cheikh Mbacké, during the Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in California, United States, on 29 April 2015.

He was recognised for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of population sciences and distinguished service rendered to the IUSSP. .....Read more ...

The INDEPTH Network joined the world community in marking the World Malaria Day on 25 April 2015. The Network called for sustained and increased funding of malaria-related efforts by donor governments and endemic countries to support this noble mission of ‘Accelerate to Zero’.

Despite declines in malaria cases and deaths in recent years, many lives are still lost to the disease each year. But it can be treated, and eventually eradicated. “We must recognise the need for sufficient global commitment and investment if we are to win the fight against malaria” ..Read more ...

Researchers need to understand how the policy, planning and budgeting processes work at different levels.

This was one the observations made at a meeting of different stakeholders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where they discussed challenges related to research uptake.

The meeting, held on 10 April 2015, was organised by the INDEPTH Network. “It is by understanding how things happen, that they will know at which point they c. .....Read more ...

The African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), an INDEPTH member centre in Nairobi, Kenya which runs the Nairobi Urban HDSS, won the 2015 United Nations Population Award during the period.

Professor Osman Sankoh, the Executive Director of INDEPTH, was not surprised: "Our friends and colleagues at APHRC are among the best researchers you can find globally. And with the leadership and vision championed by Alex Ezeh and his team, the sky is the limit. APHRC staffs have served on the INDEPTH Board . .Read more ...