INDEPTH Network an international network of health anddemographic surveillance sites (HDSSs) which was initiated in 1998 and formally constituted in 2002. It is headquartered in Accra, Ghana and governed by an independent Board of Directors which provides oversight and accountability, the network is respected for its capacity-building and cross-site scientific initiatives. INDEPTH Network's vision is to be an international platform of sentinel demographic sites that provides health and demographic data and research to enable developing countries to set health priorities and policies based on longitudinal evidence.

The Network currently consists of 38 HDSS field sites in 19 countries in Africa, Asia, Central America and Oceania that collectively monitor over 2,200,000 people at a household-level. In Ghana the sites are located in Dodowa, Kintampo and Navrongo and are owned by the Ghana Health Service.

Through this platform, the Network has been playing a major role in co-coordinating the activities of the research institutions in the evaluation and monitoring of health outcomes and the burden of disease in several countries. It has also been involved in the training and research capacity development of scientists in Africa and Asia where the sites are located.

INDEPTH Network has succeeded in creating a platform to network and strengthen individuals and self-sustaining sites in Africa and Asia. Its activities include improving the methods used in malaria research in these sites, highlighting best practices and strengthening capacity especially of young researchers to be able to set both the research agenda and undertake the research that is relevant to the current health problems in the developing world. The Network has published its findings widely, organized meetings to disseminate its findings and developed briefs for policy makers. INDEPTH has therefore attracted some of the big names who fund research in the developing world, such as the Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Sida/SAREC, Wellcome Trust, Hewlett Foundation and DFID.

The Network provides a unique opportunity for scientists to determine and monitor the changes in the burden of the disease especially that attributable to malaria, bringing together good quality data from HDSS sites. Some INDEPTH sites such as Kintampo in Ghana are contributing to the development of new drugs and potential vaccines to prevent and treat malaria.

Dr Osman Sankoh, who took over the position of executive director in October 2007, says his vision is to make INDEPTH Network the reference point for policy makers when looking for empirical evidence for policy and planning. Another area Dr Sankoh is passionate about is for INDEPTH to be seen as an efficient and effective organization that can be counted on as a credible partner that is based right here in Africa and headed by an African.

Dr Sankoh is convinced that scientists have a crucial role to play in the development of Africa and the rest of the developing world. It is for this reason that INDEPTH Network is supporting young scientists from Africa and Asia to undertake further training. For instance, within INDEPTH's scientific development and leadership program, an MSc course in population-based field epidemiology was established at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. INDEPTH has given several scholarships to students to pursue the program in South Africa.

Dr Sankoh believes that prevention and control of malaria and the conduct of relevant research are critical steps for reducing the burden of malaria, and is happy that Ghana is playing a leading role through the work of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA), a project which INDEPTH established in 2006 with a US$17M grant from the Gates Foundation. He is particularly happy that the Kintampo Health Research Centre in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana is playing a key role in the search of a malaria vaccine as part of global efforts to eradicate the disease. He noted with pride that the Kintampo work was giving Ghana a lot of international visibility.