The MITS Alliance works with surveillance sites around the world to support the integration of the MITS approach into existing mortality surveillance systems.
Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital and Research Center (Perinatal MITS Nepal)
The Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital and Research Center (GMCTHRC) was established in 2007 with the aim of imparting quality medical education to students from different parts of the world.
GMCTHRC is using MITS to strengthen the identification and characterization of causes of perinatal deaths in the Kaski District of Nepal.
The INCLEN Trust International
Started in 1980, The INCLEN Trust International (INCLEN) is a not-for-profit research organization conducting collaborative, multi-disciplinary studies on high-priority global health issues.
INCLEN is applying MITS to document the causes of death across different age groups (children, adolescents, and adults) and stillbirths at three sites in India.
Kintampo Health Research Centre
Established in 1994, the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) is a well-established, African-based research centre. The African identity of KHRC is important as it emphasises African solutions to African health challenges. KHRC is one of three field research centres of the Research and Development Division (RDD) of Ghana Health Service, established in 1994.
KHRC is implementing a mixed-method study to determine the cause of death in stillbirths, children under five, and persons over 60 years using MITS and Verbal Autopsy in Ghana.
Makerere University Centre for Health and Population Research (MUCHAP)
Part of Makerere University, the Makerere University Center for Health and Population Research’s (MUCHAP) mission is to promote the well-being of the Ugandan population by generating and providing high-quality population-based demographic, health, and socio-economic information to decision-makers and researchers.
MITS Project: MUCHAP is integrating the MITS surveillance program into the MUCHAP/ Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IMHDSS) mortality-surveillance system using standardized instruments to establish cause of death.
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand (Agincourt)
The MRC/Wits-Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Unit (Agincourt) is a health and socio-demographic surveillance system (HDSS) that was established in 1992 in rural northeast South Africa, close to the national border with Mozambique. The MRC/Wits-Agincourt Unit responds to a scope of rural public health issues to produce health research and data which is translatable to other rural Sub-Saharan communities.
The MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit is integrating MITS into established community-based mortality surveillance in rural South Africa to support the strengthening of verbal autopsies.
College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University (CHS)
The College of Health Sciences (CHS), established in 2009 and part of Addis Ababa University, provides high-quality and regionally relevant health sciences training, research, and community services at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
CHS worked with Butajira General Hospital to conduct a hospital-based descriptive study using MITS to determine cause in neonates at the neonatal intensive care unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital. The study focused on evaluating MITS’ capability to assess the sampling yield of specimens collected by non-pathologists, and test the accuracy of image-guided samples from brain and abdominal organs.
Study results showed that respiratory and cardiovascular conditions and complications of intrapartum events were the top three causes of death in infections. Pathologists and non-pathologists’ performances were comparable, showing the ease of the procedure even with short-term training. The study also identified target tissue for one out of two cases of intraventricular hemorrhage. The yield was poor but diagnostically relevant.
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University
The Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, part of the medical college at Aga Khan University, is committed to providing excellent clinical service and quality care to children while training undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The “Community-Based Surveillance for Infant Mortality: Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling Study” focused on reparatory syncytial virus (RSV) with the primary objective to assess and analyze the burden and determinants of RSV in infants (<6 months).