Welcome to the website of the Navrongo Health Research Centre. Through this medium we hope to highlight the research activities of the Centre. In this first message I’d like to share some of the research activities being carried out by the Centre.
The bulk of our research activities have been on Malaria, Diarrheal diseases, Cerebro-spinal meningitis and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health. The Centre has also carried out small-grant projects with sponsorship from the Ghanaian-Dutch collaboration programme namely the Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) expansion into the other districts, Schistosomiasis, Drug Advertisement and Problems associated with the use of Artesunate-Amodiaquine.
The Navrongo Demographic Surveillance System (NDSS) provides baseline data for several research projects in the Centre. Despite the challenges with funding, the NDSS continues to serve as the backbone of all research projects in the Centre.
In the area of malaria, the NIH funded malarial studies follows up the over 2000 newborns recruited into the Birth Cohort Study. These children will be followed up till they are five years of age. Later, this year, the project will undertake a study aimed at establishing normal laboratory values for people in the district and conduct a malaria vaccine trial.
Work on Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria amongst pregnant women was completed last year. A bigger study in the same group to look at Seasonal IPTp and bednet use is planned for next year. Another study on the Acceptability of IPTi was initiated this year whilst studies on channels of Bednet sales and utilization were continued.
A Rotavirus vaccine trial was started in the district last year. In all, 1800 babies have been recruited so far and are being followed up. The CSM vaccine trial underwent an inspection this year and the data was declared credible. Plans are underway to embark on another Meningitis vaccine trial in the district in this year.
The Centre is also involved in a number of social science research activities such as the Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) project which seeks to improve the knowledge of adolescents in the district on issues around sexual and reproductive health; the Bolga Urban Malaria intervention project which involves the distribution of unit-dose pre-pack artesunate-amodiaquine for the treatment of children under the age of five years who present with fever and test positive for malaria using the RDT.
Other projects include the Community engagement study, the Genetic Diversity study, the use of Rapid Diagnostic Tests and the DSS-University collaborative studies. We have also secured more funding to do further work on Schistosomiasis.
The Centre facilitates field activities of students from Ghana School of Public Health, Community Health Nursing Training School, the INDEPTH-Network-sponsored program at the University of Witwatersrand, and the Georgetown University, USA. During these field visits, students get the opportunity to carry out independent research studies with the support of a mentor or supervisor.
The Centre has a rich manpower of epidemiologists, demographers, social scientists, anthropologists, health economists, clinicians, biostatisticians and bioethicist who are responsible for developing and leading core research proposals. To strengthen the knowledge and skills of our human resource, a number of our staff are given the opportunity to participate in training programs, conferences and workshops both nationally and internationally and also present scientific papers based on research conducted by the Centre. Several publications, which are listed on this site, have been produced by our staff, published in international peer review journals such as the Tropical Medicine and International Health journal, the British Medical Journal, Plos Medicine, the Lancet and others.
May I take this opportunity to thank the community members, traditional and political authorities, the staff of the centre, the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service and our Collaborators for all the support as we take new strides into the future.
Dr. Abraham V.O. Hodgson
(Director, NHRC)