Collaborative workshop on civil registration

The Population Health Unit at the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, hosted civil registration process leaders and managers representing various government and non-governmental development entities in Kenya, for a two-day collaborative workshop on civil registration gaps and opportunities for improvement. Civil registration data generates vital statistics to inform policies within health and development and monitor progress to various goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG 2030). However, many low to middle income countries (LMICs) lack a reliable civil registration system to capture vital events to date. SDG 2030 lays emphasis on strengthening civil registration systems to achieve at a minimum, 100% birth and 80% death registration coverage, to ensure no one is left behind in being counted. Various LMIC are therefore urged to develop approaches to improve civil registration and vital statistics and this meeting facilitated a key engagement towards achieving this.

Media Engagement

We hosted journalists from South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya who visited the programme for a tour that aimed to enrich the journalists’ training experience as part of a science communication training workshop for journalists in Mombasa. The team interacted with Dr Eunice Nduati who presented on IAVI work and they toured the research labs. The training will empower the journalists to communicate scientific concepts accurately and effectively to a broader audience.

School Leavers Attachment Scheme – 2023 Cohort

This year’s School Leavers Attachment Scheme (SLAS) cohort have successfully concluded.  The cohort included 9 students drawn from secondary schools in Kilifi who scored highest in aptitude tests and interviews. The 3-month attachment, which started from 1st March to 31st May, involved two-week long rotations in the HSRE, Neuro, ICT, Labs, Wards and ED departments and bi-weekly tutorials. A closing ceremony was held where the students showcased their accomplishments to staff, parents, and guardians and were awarded certificates. For more information about the School Leavers Attachment Scheme, click here https://sep.kemri-wellcome.org//slas/

Consultative Workshop Report on Research Data Access and Use for Public Health Decision-Making  

As part of a consultative workshop held on 23rd May 2023 in Nairobi, stakeholders from the Ministry of Health, County Departments of Health, County and Sub- County referral hospitals and research centers discussed approaches to optimize access to and use of surveillance data to inform public health planning /decision-making. Read more about the key recommendations and ongoing actions proposed by the workshop attendees in the meeting report below.

SUPPORT-SYSTEMS Project Review Workshop

The Supporting inclusive and accountable health systems decisions in Ghana and Kenya for universal health coverage (SUPPORT-SYSTEMS) Project held a three day workshop to review the project’s progress and achievement of milestones, with colleagues from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, University of Oslo and University of Ghana. The workshop was also an opportunity to meet and discuss with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in particular, Peoples Health Movement-Kenya, on how they can meaningfully contribute to the project’s Cochrane review focusing on the role of civil society in evidence use. The overall goal of SUPPORT-SYSTEMS Project is  to explore how decision-making processes for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage (UHC) can be made more inclusive, responsive and accountable. The study aims at generating insights that can help policymakers and stakeholders implement inclusive and accountable evidence based decision-making processes for health systems strengthening and UHC.

Achieving maternal, newborn, and child health

A team of us from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust in Kenya, the Health Systems Collaborative in UK and collaborators from the Ariadne Labs of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health attended the International Maternal and Newborn Health Conference from 8th-11th May 2023 in Capetown, South Africa. This conference is held biannually to track progress made towards achieving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) SDG targets as we get to 2030. The World Health Organization has also set a 90/90/80/80 goal, which aims at ensuring that 90% of pregnant women receive at least 4 ANC visits; skilled health workers attend 90% of births; 80% of new mothers and babies receive post-natal care within two days of birth; and 80% of districts across countries have access to obstetric services and small and sick newborn care. We heard about the maternal and newborn care gains eroded by the COVID-19 pandemic, reflected on the quality of maternal and newborn health, and discussed access, provision of care in stable and fragile/conflict settings, and the impacts of climate change. There was a push towards adopting a life course approach which emphasizes handling MNCH across a continuum of the ante-natal, intra-partum and post-natal care for mature women and adolescents. Challenges highlighted included referrals and patient transportation; management of anaemia, folic acid deficiencies, and post-partum haemorrhage; availability of blood for transfusion; and providing ceasarian birth at the right time and for the right patients. The need to improve sexual and reproductive health care/family planning services, promote breastfeeding and access to human milk for newborns, and to end the silence on still births, were underscored. Patient experiences were raised as an important quality of care element. We considered how respectful maternal and newborn care can be promoted in LMIC settings and how to incorporate mothers’ voices into discussions on respectful care. We heard about mothers’ fears concerning childbirth and stigma associated with still births and health care providers’ fears of litigation over births gone wrong.  The importance of paying attention to the emotional well-being of health care workers and mothers in the perinatal period also stood out. From these discussions, there were calls to: 1) strengthen community support across pregnancy, birth, and the post-natal period; 2) improve bereavement counselling; and 3) address health worker burnout and compassion fatigue. It is clear that to impact on these areas and achieve the desired quality of MNCH care, we will need to consider structural drivers and redesign services so that health care workers’ environments nurture positive interactions with patients, parents and wider communities.  We found a session where presenters discussed organizational theory for the persistence of mistreatment in childbirth particularly useful for our work. Such sessions highlighted the importance of bridging the gap between clinical guidelines and realities, and of recognizing the complexity of health systems interventions.  Other sessions underscored the importance of data in clinical decision making, and the need to consider maternal and child health from gender, justice, and human rights lenses. All of these initiatives are needed to have

KWTRP Gender, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) has put in place the Gender, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy to provide guidelines to be followed in the management of the Programme human resources to ensure consistency and compliance with the labour laws in the application of all policies across the Programme.

Framework to Guide the Use of Mathematical Modelling in Evidence-based Policy Decision Making

A brief on the framework to guide the use of mathematical modelling in evidence-based policy decision making is now available. This brief describes a framework that low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) can use to guide their strategies for building systems and structures that support generation and use of model estimates. The framework is intended to be a tool to guide policy makers, funders/development partners and researchers in planning for and prioritising key interventions in improving their country’s capacity to generate and use mathematical models as part of the evidence eco-system in informing decisions. This framework was developed in consultation with policymakers, policy advisors and infectious disease modellers and is supported by the findings from a multi-country study on the experiences and lessons learnt during COVID-19. Click here to download the brief

Health Economists leveraging peer learning

The Africa Health Economics Study Group (AfHESG) a study group within the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme coordinated by the Health Economics Research Unit has launched a training schedule for those interested in health economics.  AfHESG aims to build capacity in Health Economics among Africans by leveraging on peer learning through practical training across all health economics expertise areas.  The first training on costing, annualizing costs and transferring costs over time (deflation) will be coordinated on 30th June 2023 from 9AM – 4PM. Click here to register for the 30th June 2023 training https://shorturl.at/hwyCT AfHESG has planned training sessions scheduled every last Friday of the month starting June 2023 to May 2024. Be on the lookout for more information on our Twitter handle for the upcoming sessions For more information regarding the Africa Health Economics Study Group (AfHESG) contact afhesg@kemri-wellcome.org

Congratulations!

We wish to congratulate Anthony Etyang and Mainga Hamaluba who have been awarded the Associate Professor title from the University of Oxford. Anthony Etyang is a research scientist at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP), Kilifi. He is the Head of the Epidemiology and Demography within the programme, in which he plays a critical role in the development of its strategic direction and planning.  Anthony qualified in medicine at the University of Nairobi in 2004 and completed a PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2018. Before joining KWTRP, he was a consultant physician and epidemiologist in Kilifi and at the Kenyatta National Hospital in the University of Nairobi.  Anthony said: ‘I am thrilled on achieving this milestone. I would like to thank all my colleagues, both junior and senior without whose amazing support over the years this would not have been possible. I look forward to even more exciting times ahead’. Mainga Hamaluba is the Head of Clinical Research at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi. Mainga qualified in medicine in the University of Aberdeen in 2001 and later trained as a junior doctor in paediatrics in Oxford, completing her MD in the Oxford Vaccine Group in 2017. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (FRCPCH).  In her role as Head of Clinical Research, Mainga has consistently played a unique and critical role in organising and driving clinical research trials across a broad range of high impact studies. These include research into the treatment of snake-bite, the use of the Oxford-AZ vaccine in Kenya, the R21 malaria vaccine in Africa and multi-valent pneumococcal vaccine in Nepal, and the use of oxygen supplementation in children pneumonia in Uganda and Africa. She led the development of the most used malaria infection challenge model for the development of new treatment globally and a shigella infection model; and she is currently creating a unique platform for the study of vaccination and critical and new born care in Africa. Mainga said: ‘Feeling deeply humbled by this award which is a testament to the positive research environments and communities I have been privileged to work in. Foremost I thank my family, mentors, colleagues and research participants who continue to work with us to improve health in Africa’. Hongera to our new professors!

Human Resource for Health Stakeholder Engagement

The KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme hosted various stakeholders for a discussion on Human Resource for Health (HRH) in Kenya. The meeting discussions centered on themes around health workforce production, the impact of health workforce on quality of care and health workforce governance and management. During this engagement researchers from the Programme got the opportunity to share a portfolio of HRH research spanning over 15 years and facilitated discussions on the policy and practice implications of the research findings.

KHDSS 20th Anniversary

The Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) housed within the Epidemiology and Demography Department (EDD) of the KEMRI Kilifi Wellcome Trust Research Programme celebrated two decades of its existence. The event was an opportunity for the KHDSS team to reflect on the KHDSS values, strengths and connect with the future. The event was attended by current and past staffs, former EDD department manager, representatives from scientific and operation departments, Civil Registration Services, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, local administration, Kilifi Department of Health and KEMRI community representatives. The celebration constituted both presentations and speeches. The presentations covered field data collection, mapping, types of data collected, applications used to collect and storage of the data, data outputs and utilization of the KHDSS platform and its outputs over the 20 years of its existence. The keynote speeches were given by Head of EDD, 2 KHDSS Principal Investigators and the Executive Programme Director.

Webinar: African country experiences with institutionalizing Health Technology Assessment (HTA).

Health Economics Research Unit (HERU) based at The KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, in collaboration with Africa Health Technology Assessment Network (AfroHTA) and Africa Health Economics Association (AFEA), hosted a webinar on African country experiences with institutionalizing Health Technology Assessment (HTA).  HTA is an approach to evidence-based priority setting to provide a mechanism for making choices about purchasing decisions in the health system. The webinar hosted panellists from different countries and institutions and drew participants from across the globe. The webinar session included a presentation on factors affecting the institutionalization of HTA and experiences from Kenya and Egypt in the institutionalization of HTA. Lessons were drawn on how countries have structured their systems to implement HTA and how they used HTA to strike a balance between competing priorities areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. The session also provided a platform to discuss ways to bridge the disconnect existing in many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) on implementing UHC and institutionalizing HTA.

Kenya Paediatric Association (KPA) 2023 Public Engagement forum

As this year marks 10 years of the Clinical Information Network (CIN), we took time to reflect on the engagement between the paediatricians and the Programme’s research team during the Kenya Paediatric Association (KPA) 2023 Conference. The goal of this forum was to build, sustain and deepen respectful relationships and mutual understanding between paediatricians and the Programme.The engagement also included discussions on how paediatricians can be part of the policy space at the county and national levels.

PCST 2023

The communications team attended the Public Communication for Science and Technology Conference 2023 in Netherlands. The team joined the Africa Asia Communications Forum Network in a session where they presented on the opportunities and challenges of setting up and running professional SciComm networks. The forum brings together communications specialists from Wellcome-funded Africa and Asia-based research units in 12 countries.

Vaccinology Career Webinar Series

The KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme hosted a career webinar on pathways and opportunities for a career in vaccine research and development, the webinar hosted students from countries across the African continent with Prof. George Warimwe deputy director at the Programme together with Prof. Teresa Lambe from the University of Oxford as the guest speakers for the webinar. This webinar was the first in a series of planned webinars with the goal of improving access to information on possible career options for university students in the field of vaccinology.  The webinars will focus on vaccine research and development as a potential career pathway with guest speakers from the vaccine industry from Africa and beyond.

Promising results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of the ChAdOx1 RVF vaccine against Rift Valley fever in humans.

This first evaluation of the vaccine in humans published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases was done in the United Kingdom with the aim of assessing the safety and immune response generated by a single shot of the ChAdOx1 RVF vaccine. A total of 15 volunteers were recruited into the study and three immunised with a low dose, six with a medium dose and six with a high dose of ChAdOx1 RVF. The study participants were then monitored over a three-month period. The vaccine was well tolerated with no serious adverse events or safety concerns. High levels of neutralising antibodies, which block viral infection and mediate protection from Rift Valley fever, were elicited by the vaccine. These immune responses were highest in the medium dose and high dose vaccinees and were durable over the three months of follow-up. Dr Daniel Jenkin, the Lead Clinical Research Fellow of the trial at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, said: ‘Rift Valley fever is a deadly viral illness with no human vaccine. The results of our first trial of ChAdOx1 RVF in humans are an exciting development and strongly support developing this vaccine further by studying it in later phase clinical trials.’ ChAdOx1 RVF vaccine was developed by a team led by Professor George Warimwe of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme. The vaccine has previously been shown to provide protection against Rift Valley fever in farm animals, which means that ChAdOx1 RVF could potentially be used for both humans and animals. Professor George Warimwe, senior author, and Deputy Executive Director of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme said: ‘We had carefully studied immune responses in farm animals and in humans to design the ChAdOx1 RVF vaccine, and it is suitable for a One Health approach whereby it protects both animals and humans. The promising safety and immunogenicity results observed on the first use of ChAdOx1 RVF in humans are very exciting and suggest that single doses will raise immune responses that will be protective in Rift Valley fever epidemics.’ Rift Valley Fever is a mosquito-borne viral illness of humans and farm animals that was first discovered in Kenya in 1930. Outbreaks of the disease are now common in Africa and the disease previously emerged in the Middle East. Clinical manifestations in humans include fever, muscle pain and other flu-like symptoms, but about 2% of cases develop severe illness that can result in blindness, convulsions, and bleeding. Approximately 50% of those with severe disease may die and spontaneous abortion (or miscarriage) in pregnancy can occur. In farm animals (sheep, goats, cattle), more than 90% of young animals affected by Rift Valley fever die and spontaneous abortion in almost all pregnant animals on a farm is typical. While vaccines are available for veterinary use, no vaccines are currently available for human use. For this reason, the World Health Organization and the African Union have identified development of human vaccines as an urgent priority owing to the potential for public health emergencies arising from Rift valley fever epidemics.

Advanced workshop for Bioinformatics workflows

We hosted the 2nd Advanced workshop for Bioinformatics workflows between 27th -31st March with 28 participants from Kenya, Uganda, DRC-Congo, Malawi and Nigeria with support from NGS Academy for the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative.

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