INDEPTH News

An International Network of field sites with continuous Demographic
Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in developing countries

INDEPTH NEWS BULLETIN

Vol. 2004, No.3

In this issue, you will read:

The 4th INDEPTH AGM opens in early May in Hanoi, Vietman
Meeting of site PIs for the Health Intervention Trials Platform ends in Accra, Ghana
The INDEPTH Adult Health and Aging group meets on May 2 in Hanoi, Vietnam
Announcement: Technical Meeting for Data Managers at INDEPTH Sites
INDEPTH hosts a VW Foundation Workshop in Accra, Ghana
New Study: Clustering of Mortality at INDEPTH Sites
Navrongo DSS turns 10
Bandim DSS turns 25

1.The 4th INDEPTH AGM opens in early May in Hanoi, Vietman

On Sunday 2 May 2004, the 4^th INDEPTH Annual General and Scientific Meeting (AGM) will start with field visits to the two INDEPTH member sites in Vietnam, Filabavi DSS and Chililab DSS. Two buses will depart at 8:30 a.m. from the AGM Venue – Melia Hanoi Hotel.

The AGM will officially be opened on Monday 3 May by the Vice Minister for Health in Vietnam. Prof. Nguyen Viet, Dean of the Hanoi Medical School will deliver the welcome address on behalf of the organisers -- the Hanoi Medical School and Filabavi DSS. Prof. Steve Tollman, Chair of the INDEPTH Board of Trustees will speak at the opening ceremony. Prof. Pham Huy Dung will deliver the keynote address -- DSS: From a concept to a model – implication for Vietnam and Asia. The opening ceremony will be ended by short introductions to Filabavi DSS and Chililab DSS by Prof. Nguyen Thi Kim Chuc and Prof. Le Vu Anh respectively.

We are pleased to inform our French-speaking participants that the Centre for Population and Development (CEPED) in France will again fund the participation of a simultaneous translator at the AGM. The Secretariat is grateful to CEPED and to Valérie Delaunay (Niakhar DSS, Senegal / Universite de Provence, Marseille) for making this possible.

The final draft programme of the AGM is now available of this website.

2. Meeting of INDEPTH Site PIs for the Health Intervention Trials Platform ends in Accra, Ghana

The first meeting of INDEPTH site PIs for the Health Intervention Trials Platform took place on 15-19 March 2004 in Accra, Ghana. Facilitators were Prof. Peter Smith (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Dr. Howard Engers (WHO/AHRI Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Dr Ebi Kimanani (IBRI, Canada), and Dr. George Armah (Noguchi Memorial Institute, Accra, Ghana).

In his brief opening address, Prof. Fred Binka, Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network said that establishing the health interventions platform was an important activity that the network had decided to engage in, particularly due to the current need for such interventions and the growing desire for drug and vaccine companies to test their products.

The outcomes were:

An agreement to conduct health intervention trials under the INDEPTH banner;
A classification and assessment of participating sites with respect to ability to conduct clinical trials in the various disease areas;
Complete first drafts of pre-proposals in Malaria and HIV/AIDS in response to the EDCTP call for proposals;
A description of the structures, resources and funding needed to take this forward; and
A timetable for future activities and an activity plan.

The following sites were represented:

· Dr. Boniphace Idindili - Ifakara DSS, Tanzania

· Dr. Raphael Isingo - Magu DSS, Tanzania

· Dr. Eftyhia Vardas - Agincourt DSS, South Africa

· Dr. Johannes Viljoen - Africa Centre DSS, South Africa

· Dr. Amabelia Rodrigues - Bandim DSS, Guinea-Bissau

· Dr. Mesganaw Fantahun - Butajira DSS, Ethiopia

· Dr. Florent Some - Nouna DSS, Burkina Faso

· Dr. Frank Baiden - Navrongo DSS, Ghana

· Dr. Abraham Hodgson – Navrongo DSS, Ghana

· Dr. Betuel Sigauque - Manhica DSS, Mozambique

· Dr. Fred Nalugola - Rakai DSS, Uganda

3. INDEPTH Adult Health and Aging group meets on May 2 in Hanoi, Vietnam

The Adult Health and Ageing Group is anxious to make best use of existing site data relating to adult health issues. This may include mortality levels and trends among adults, morbidity data, socio-economic and environmental risk factors, specific adult health issues such as HIV/AIDS or non-communicable diseases, etc. Any possible applications of DSS data to shed light on adult health problems would be of interest.

To facilitate this process, sites are invited to participate in stage one of a two-stage workshop. This will be a one-day session on Sunday May 2nd 2004 in Hanoi (immediately preceding the INDEPTH AGM). The purpose of this stage is to allow representatives of any site which has un-analysed data relating to adult health issues to spend time with facilitators to work up a simple analysis scheme. These analysis schemes will include:

· a description of the relevant available data at the site

· research questions which could be addressed from these data

· a methodological outline as to how the analysis might proceed an outline of a scientific paper following from the analysis

All the analysis schemes arising from this first stage will then be independently reviewed, and, subject to funding being available, selected participants will be invited for a longer, intensive workshop later in the year, where they will be supported in undertaking their analysis schemes.

If you will attend the AGM and want to attend the Adult Health and Aging meeting, please contact:

Steve Tollman: tollmansm@sph.wits.ac.za

Peter Byass: PeterByass@aol.com

4. Announcement: Technical Meeting for Data Managers at INDEPTH Sites

This meeting will provide a forum that will facilitate sharing of experiences, solutions, and other related issues to ensure that the data is readily provided for network-level activities.

The objectives are to:

Bring together Data Managers from all sites to discuss difficulties they encounter in data management within the sites.
Discuss how these problems can be overcome with the support of the network. Training sessions will include:

Understanding the fundamentals of an RDB and most importantly how to design add-ons to an existing

The use of STATA to build work files for mortality and fertility analysis.

Using SQL for data extraction and analysis

iii.To enable the INDEPTH Secretariat share/discuss various issues with Data Managers that will enhance smooth communication between the Secretariat and the INDEPTH sites, with regards to the information.

iv.To discuss the promotion of site visibility and information dissemination through websites.

This meeting is meant for the persons who actually manage data in INDEPTH Sites. A total of 10 persons (10 sites) will be selected from applications received based on selection criteria developed by the Secretariat. All responses should be sent via email to:

Kwabena.Boateng@indepth-network.org

The deadline for receiving applications/responses will be 26^th April 2004.

Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.

For more information, please visit the relevant pages on this website.

5. INDEPTH hosts a VW Foundation Workshop in Accra, Ghana

The INDEPTH Secretariat is hosting from 18-22 April in Accra, Ghana a workshop on “Communicable disease research in Sub-Sahara Africa - from the African bench to patients and populations." The workshop is sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation in Germany. It is co-ordinated by Dr.Thomas Junghanss, Section Clinical Tropical Medicine, Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health, at the University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany and Prof. Fred Binka, Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network.

The goals of the workshop are:

1) To bring together scientists in the field of communicable disease research from Sub-Sahara Africa and Germany to explore funding strategies for scientists from Sub-Sahara Africa co-operating with German research institutions and, where necessary, associated partners from other countries. The specific aim of the Volkswagen foundation in respect to its funding initiative and planned call for proposals in communicable disease research are:

improve on "true partnership" in research and technology between North and South
strengthen South-South cooperation
develop the "African bench" to improve responsiveness to African demands
strengthen integrated research between bench, patients and
populations
foster the interaction between African and German research centres and universities

2) To set the framework of the "call for proposals"

6.New study proposition: Clustering of Mortality at INDEPTH Sites

An interest group is proposing a new study on the clustering of mortality at INDEPTH sites. The objective of the study is to examine hypothesis driven and prospective cluster analysis of mortality data in participating DSS settings in the INDEPTH network for a specific period to be determined (possibly the 10-year period 1994-2003) as an exploratory, technology transfer and capacity building initiative.

Retrospective mortality data will be used, so there is no need to collect new data. The template for the reporting of the data will produced and sent to sites who will indicate interest in this research.

Participating sites must be able to provide:

Basically all-cause and if possible cause-specific mortality data for the first cause of death by sex and by the following three age groups (<5, 15-59, >=60) collectively for the specific period (e.g. 10-year period 1994-2003);
Denominators of population in the respective age and sex groups for the chosen period; and
Geographical co-ordinates (longitudes and latitudes) of ALL villages/towns/sectors of towns in their DSAs.

The following sites have shown interest in the study: Karonga (Malawi); Africa Centre (South Africa); Nouna (Burkina Faso); Rufiji (Tanzania); Ifakara (Tanzania); Bandim (Guinea-Bissau); Niahkar (Senegal); Watch (Bangladesh); Magu (Tanzania); Filabavi (Vietnam); and Wosera (Papua New Guinea)

If you are interested in this study, please contact:

Osman Sankoh – osman.sankoh@indepth-network.org

7. Navrongo DSS turns 10

Navrongo DSS in Ghana celebrated their 10 years of operating demographic surveillance. Research in Navrongo has made great contributions to national health policies and planning in Ghana. Click here for more details.

8. Bandim DSS turns 25

Bandim DSS in Guinea-Bissau will celebrate 25 years of operation in May this year. Further details will be reported in the next issue of our bulletin.

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