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An
International
Network of field sites with continuous Demographic |
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Bandafassi DSS, Senegal
The Bandafassi area is in Senegal at an altitude of 60-426 m above sea level. It is about 750 km from the capital, Dakar, in the region of Tambacounda and the Département of Kedougou, eastern Senegal, near the borders of Senegal, Mali, and Guinea. The site covers about half the Arrondissement of Bandafassi. The Bandafassi area is 25 km x by 25 km wide and has an area of 600 km2. The Bandafassi DSS was initiated in 1970. On 1 January 2003, the Bandafassi site had a population of 11 200. The population density is low, about 19 inhabitants/km2 in 42 villages. The villages are small (260 inhabitants on average), and some are divided into hamlets. The project is managed by the Senegal Ministry of Health, INED France and the University of Dakar. Initial census was done between 1970 and 1980 among the various subpopulations. Routine data collection covers births, deaths, marriages and migrations.
Objective The original objective of the Bandafassi project (in 1970) was to measure survival rates in various genotype subgroups of a population (comparing, for example, persons with the gene responsible for drepanocytosis [gene S] and those without it). This was rapidly abandoned and the project became a demographic and health project, whose main objectives were to study the demographic and health situation of a West African population with very high mortality levels, to observe changes over time, and to examine the factors involved.
Priority Research Areas Changes in sexuality, migration and relations between genders; Evolution of marriage patterns, fertility, and reproductive health; Levels and trends of mortality and causes of deaths;
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