Background of the Navrongo Health Research Centre
| • The Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC) started out as a field site for the Vitamin A Supplementation Trial (VAST) in 1989 (http://www.navrongo.org). |
| • The VAST was initiated by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was facilitated by local researchers in Ghana. |
| • As the first community-wide research activity in the Kassena-Nankana district, the VAST became the main source of identification for the NHRC and is still generally referred to as VAST by members of the community. |
| • Following the successful completion of the VAST in 1992, the Ghana Ministry of Health adopted the site to serve as one of its health research centers. |
| • The NHRC's mandate is to investigate the health problems affecting the northern sector of the country and to inform policymakers at the district, regional, and national level. |
| • The NHRC runs a demographic surveillance system.16 This is a database that records all vital events in the district through house-to-house visits by fieldworkers of the NHRC. It is updated every 4 months with births, deaths, pregnancies, education level, and in and out migrations. The database thus maintains vital information on all individuals, their ethnic background, and the compounds and households in the district. This facilitates an optimal selection of samples and maximizes the follow-up of study participants. |
| • Although the NHRC is part of the Ghana Health Service, most of its research activities are funded by external sources, such as the National Institutes of Health, the Rockefeller foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organization (WHO). |
| • Most of the NHRC's research has focused on communicable diseases, (including malaria, diarrhea, meningitis, HIV/AIDS, and lymphatic filariasis) but it has also included educational interventions, such as adolescent reproductive health and female genital mutilation. |
| • Several findings from these studies have subsequently informed both national and international health policies, including routine administration of vitamin A to infants, the use of impregnated bed nets for malaria control, and a community-based approach to health delivery and provision of family planning services. |
| • Over the years, the NHRC has reached out widely in the Kassena-Nankana district, and most residents of the district have participated in at least one of the Centre's research projects.17 |