Activities

Global Labs (Durban, South Africa) supports the KaziAfya study and performs analyses of dried blood spots.

Prof. Markus Gerber, Dr. Christin Lang, and newly joined PhD student Johanna Beckmann travelled to Tanzania to visit our Tanzanian partner Ifakara Health Institute (IHI). Together with Gertrude Joseph and Lina Finda – the newly appointed Tanzanian study coordinator of KaziAfya (second from right) – we discussed all details of the upcoming data assessment, responsibilities, transport of materials, and teacher coaches. It was an eye-opener to visit possible intervention schools and to speak to the school principals. We had the impression that these school principals were very keen to implement the intervention. The school visit was important, as even research staff from IHI were not fully familiar with the current situation at public primary schools in Ifakara. Due to the fact that just recently school became compulsory and free, a teacher often has between 80 and 120 children per class. Additionally, due to a new law, schools were not allowed to provide free food for their learners. As a consequence, the majority of learners do not eat anything from early morning until late afternoon. This information was crucial in planning further steps regarding the intervention implementation. On 24 May 2018, we flew back from Ifakara to Dar es Salaam to meet with Dr. Honorati Masanja and the finance staff of IHI, which is located at the Dar es Salaam branch. We had another very fruitful meeting, focusing on administrative and financial issues. Our field visit was successfully finished with Dr. Honorati Masanja’s signature of the Collaborative Research Agreement.

Prof. Markus Gerber, Prof. Uwe Pühse and Dr. Christin Lang visit the South African research team at the Nelson Mandela University.