Profile: The Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance System

• Published in: International journal of epidemiology Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 676 - 685
• Main Authors: CRAMPIN, Amelia C, DUBE, Albert, FLOYD, Sian, MCGRATH, Nuala, FINE, Paul E. M, FRENCH, Neil, GLYNN, Judith R, ZABA, Basia, MBOMA, Sebastian, PRICE, Alison, CHIHANA, Menard, JAHN, Andreas, BASCHIERI, Angel, MOLESWORTH, Anna, MWAIYEGHELE, Elnaeus, BRANSON, Keith
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.06.2012
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anti-Retroviral Agents - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Health and Demographic Surveillance System Profiles; Health Status; Health Status Disparities; Health Surveys - methods; Health Surveys - statistics & numerical data; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - epidemiology; Humans; Incidence; Malawi - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Population Surveillance - methods; Prevalence; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Sexual Behavior; Socioeconomic Factors; Vaccination - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; Malawi; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; Demography; cause of death; Epidemiology; sub-Saharan Africa; Malawi; Cause; Sanitary surveillance; Public health; Health system; Immunopathology; Life expectancy; Mortality; Retroviridae; AIDS; Immune deficiency; Lentivirus; Statistics; Infection; Virus; Census; vital statistics; HIV; Viral disease; Death; Population dynamics; Human immunodeficiency virus; Causality
• ISSN: 0300-5771; 1464-3685
• DOI: 10.1093/ije/dys088

The Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Karonga HDSS) in northern Malawi currently has a population of more than 35 000 individuals under continuous demographic surveillance since completion of a baseline census (2002-2004). The surveillance system collects data on vital events and migration for individuals and for households. It also provides data on cause-specific mortality obtained by verbal autopsy for all age groups, and estimates rates of disease for specific presentations via linkage to clinical facility data. The Karonga HDSS provides a structure for surveys of socio-economic status, HIV sero-prevalence and incidence, sexual behaviour, fertility intentions and a sampling frame for other studies, as well as evaluating the impact of interventions, such as antiretroviral therapy and vaccination programmes. Uniquely, it relies on a network of village informants to report vital events and household moves, and furthermore is linked to an archive of biological samples and data from population surveys and other studies dating back three decades.