CHAMPS Hosts Network Meeting for International Leaders in Prevention of Child Mortality and Global Health

December 12, 2017

CHAMPS News

CHAMPS Hosts Network Meeting for International Leaders in Prevention of Child Mortality and Global Health

Maputo, Mozambique, November 2017

The 2nd Annual CHAMPS Network Meeting took place November 13-15, 2017 in Maputo, Mozambique. The three-day meeting provided an opportunity for mortality prevention surveillance experts to share lessons learned and to make recommendations that will build upon CHAMPS’ efforts to improve health outcomes to prevent childhood mortality

CHAMPS generates high quality data to inform policy and public health provision, but the impacts of CHAMPS’ work are felt deeply by communities as well. The community-level impacts of CHAMPS; work were highlighted by representatives from across the network during the meeting.

“Families are very interested in knowing the cause of death for children that have previously been healthy,” said Saiful Islam, the Social and Behavioral Science lead in Bangladesh.

“Mothers are often blamed for the loss of a child… If we can know the exact cause of death and provide this information to the family, we save them from blame and stigmatization.”

Richard Chawana Senior Program Manager for South Africa, leading the MITS collection team, described the community-level impact this way,

“We are bringing closure to families, and answers to families that are asking themselves, why? Through the CHAMPS process, people begin to understand how diseases and infections are passed on, and what has to be done in the future to prevent such things from happening.

For me, the most important thing is that we are providing solutions and answers to families.”

The CHAMPS Network has a total of six sites: Harar, Ethiopia; Baliakandi, Bangladesh; Soweto, South Africa; Bamako, Mali; Manhiça, Mozambique, and Kisumu and Siaya, Kenya. At each of its sites CHAMPS implements a series of scientific processes to collect, analyze, and interpret physical and clinical data that help determine definitive causes of death for children under five years old. Information from CHAMPS is used to drive action to reduce child deaths, contribute to long term policy and decision making, and ultimately contribute to reduced child mortality in these vulnerable areas.

CHAMPS Sites

Sign up for CHAMPS News

blah blah blah blah blah

footer-logo2

blah blah blah blah blah