INDEPTH NETWORK



An International network of DSS sites involved in demographic and health research in developing countries

May 2008 From the Executive Director Dr.Osman Sankoh
	I am writing this note to the INDEPTH family at the end of May. I am here in Umea, Sweden where I claimed to have brought along with me very sunny weather from Accra, Ghana . But as I forgot to draw the window curtains and still saw sunlight at midnight, I blamed myself for bringing too much sunlight to northern Sweden. I hurriedly drew the curtains and leapt into bed since I didn�t want to be late for the exciting INDEPTH-WHO Adult Health and Aging Workshop being hosted by the Umea Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Umea. Funded by the National Institute of Aging (NIA) in the US through WHO, Geneva, the INDEPTH Adult Health and Aging Working Group is meeting here this week to interrogate the data the sites have collected as part of the Global Survey on Adult Health and Global Aging (SAGE), and to consider issues of analysis, publication and public access. I wish to congratulate Steve Tollman (Agincourt/WITS University in South Africa), who leads the working group, and his entire team of INDEPTH scientists, on their remarkable progress. Led by INDEPTH, WHO and NIA are also present in Umea. It is a partnership that is working; and young developing-country scientists are now actively involved in analysis, rather than just collecting data for others to analyse. So I�ll return to Accra a happy man, and I�m sure you will understand why this is so. Adding to my happiness is a report I have just received on a Data Managers workshop which ended as I was about to leave Accra. �The data managers were all happy,� said Kwabena Owusu-Boateng, INDEPTH�s Information Systems Manager. We brought to Ghana 20/36 data managers from INDEPTH sites to deal with data management issues at our sites. They were in the good hands of Prof. Bruce MacLeod (University of South Maine, USA), the architect of the Household Registration System (HRS) which is the backbone of HDSS work. Sitting by me in Umea is Dr. Ayaga Bawah, our Senior Research Associate at INDEPTH. He has just presented a concept paper on epidemiological transitions, showing how INDEPTH data are suitable for investigating the phenomenon. Wait a minute. He is whispering something to me. I think he has seen me browsing through the data managers� report. �In addition to that, all participating sites submitted their minimum datasets at the Dodowa workshop,� he says. �Terrific!� I exclaim, making a few heads turn towards me. I smile� I have reason to smile. These datasets will enable us to characterise the sites better and make a world of difference at INDEPTH. I�ll tell you more at the end of June. Till then, goodbye! BETTER HEALTH INFORMATION FOR BETTER HEALTH POLICY ======================================= April 2008 message from the Executive Director March 2008 message from the Executive Director February 2008 message from the Executive Director January 2008 message from the Executive Director