Child Health Research Project

The Centre is one of five collaborating partners who are jointly implementing the USAID-funded Child Health Research Project (CHR).   The project conducts applied research in: diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, neonatal health and malnutrition, aimed at helping achieve USAID’s strategic objectives of reducing childhood mortality and morbidity.

CHR identifies and evaluates new technologies for improving the treatment and prevention of these illnesses, including methods of managing child health programmes. It seeks to strengthen the problem-solving capacity of developing country institutions and promotes the adoption of research findings to guide improvements in national health policies.

The project concentrates its research efforts on six areas relating to child health and mortality:

Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI)
Diarrhoeal Diseases
Nutrition
Infectious Diseases
Neonatal Health
Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)

The Centre’s collaborating partners in the project are:

World Health Organization Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development (WHO/CAH), working together with the Department of Vaccines & Biologicals (WHO/V&B), is responsible for interventions concerning health, growth and development in the age group 0-19 years. It main objectives are: 1) To reduce illness and death among children and adolescents and, 2) To improve the health and development of children and adolescents. CAH stimulates worldwide action to promote healthy behaviour and prevent and manage health problems of children and adolescents. It does so by raising awareness, promoting research and producing information to develop standards and guidelines. In addition CAH facilitates the local adaptation and implementation of standards and guidelines.

Boston University: Applied Research on Child Health (ARCH) Project is committed to the support of applied scientific research that will inform and improve health policies and programmes to reduce child morbidity and mortality around the world. The ARCH Project, through its research grant awards, training programmes, and technical assistance will strengthen the national capacities of both social and biomedical scientists in low income countries to foster a sustainable system to further the child survival revolution.

INCLEN (International Clinical Epidemiology Network)  is a worldwide network of health professionals dedicated to improving equity, efficiency, and quality in health care through training and the production and application of the best evidence on interventions. This is achieved through a network of physicians, statisticians and social scientists throughout the world who work together to build and sustain institutional capacity for excellence and relevance in research medical education.

Johns Hopkins - Family Health and Child Survival (FHACS) identifies new technologies and methods for improving child survival and family health. Focus is on effective integrated implementation of services to have the greatest impact in developing countries. FHACS improves the effectiveness of child survival technologies in developing countries by implementing operations and policy research. Research is conducted in collaboration with developing country institutions and focuses on control of childhood infectious diseases and nutritional problems, and improving methodologies for measuring child mortality/morbidity and delivering interventions.

Contact: Dr. Shams El ARIFEEN