The Bandim Health Project operates in one of the world’s poorest countries, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. The core of the project is a demographic surveillance system which registers more than 90,000 people in 5 suburbs of the capital Bissau. Information on health, diseases, immunisations, breast-feeding, etc. is collected, primarily focusing on women and children. Admissions to the country’s sole pediatric ward in the capital are recorded.
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The Bandim Health Project was initiated in 1978 with the aim of improving child survival in Guinea-Bissau. The project is currently based on collaboration between the Ministry of Health, Guinea-Bissau, Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, and researchers affiliated to Copenhagen University, and University of Aarhus, Denmark.
The Bandim Health Project works with population based health research, focusing on women and children. The project’s fields of research include:
One of the most important findings was that a new measles vaccine used in low-income countries was associated with a two-fold increase in mortality among girls. This discovery led to the withdrawal of the vaccine. Had it not been withdrawn, it could have cost at least ½ million additional female deaths per year in Africa alone.[1][2]
The Bandim Health Project is led by Peter Aaby [1]. Since the project’s foundation in 1978, more than 450 scientific articles have been published, and 31 PhD or doctoral degrees and 13 Masters of International Health degrees have been obtained by researchers employed by the project.
Bandim Health Project is a co-founder of the Graduate School in International Health at Copenhagen University. The Bandim Health Project is a member of The ENRECA (ENhancement of REsearch CApacity) Network [2]. The Project is also part of Centre for International Health CISU at Copenhagen University, and of The INDEPTH Network, a network of demographic surveillance sites in Africa and Asia [3]. Furthermore, the project collaborates closely with Aarhus University and several international research institutions.