Request for Expressions of Interest in the Establishment of an Additional Health and Demographic Surveillance Node in the South African Population Research Infrastructure Network
The South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) is issuing this Request for Expression of Interest to gauge the interest of stakeholders in the expansion of its current network of six health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) nodes. There are currently three rural nodes, Agincourt (Mpumalanga), DIMAMO (Limpopo), Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) (KZN); and three urban nodes GRT-INSPIRED (Gauteng), C-SHARP (Cape Town Metro), and USINGA (eThekwini Metro).
SAPRIN is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) as part of the South African Research Infrastructure Road Map (SARIR) and hosted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
HDSS nodes implement a standard protocol for the prospective and longitudinal collection of population, health, and socio-economic data in geographically defined sections of impoverished and developmentally constrained communities, both rural and urban. Since its inception in 2016, SAPRIN has integrated the three existing HDSS nodes in South Africa, namely, MRC/Wits University Agincourt HDSS in Bushbuckridge District, Mpumalanga, established in 1992 with a current population of 115,000; University of Limpopo DIMAMO HDSS in the Capricorn District of Limpopo, established in 1996, with a population of 83,000, currently expanding to 100,000; and the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) HDSS in uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal, established in 2000, with a population of 152,000, linked to the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The GRT-INSPIRED site in Gauteng has a population of 46,000 expanding to 100,000.
SAPRIN is issuing this Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) to gauge interest in and readiness of South African research organisations to establish and operate HDSS nodes consistent with the SAPRIN research protocol. We are interested in starting a rural node based in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, or North-West provinces. Eligible research organisations or consortia must be associated with a South African university or national research council, have experience in population-based research and established links to the community where the node is to be located.
The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2023 and an information webinar for interested parties will be held on 30 August 2023.
Please follow the link to join the webinar http://bit.ly/3Kyq7LN