CHAMPS

Study/research: Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS)

PI/PIS: Professor Anthoney Scott/ Professor Nega Assefa

Lead Institution: Haramaya University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Implementation Year: 2017

Status of the project: ongoing

Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Project Summary

The CHAMPS project aimed to determine the cause of child death and stillbirth, as well as the cause of life threating illness in Harar, Harmaya and Kersa, Eastern Ethiopia. CHAMPS-Ethiopia was established health surveillance in Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Harar, Haramaya District Hospital, and Kersa health centers through Health and Demographic Surveillance (HDSS). If parents provide consent, CHAMPS teams collect tissue samples and uses sophisticated laboratory analysis and expert panel review to determine causes of death. we collect tissue and body fluid samples that undergo testing. We gather information from clinical records. And through verbal autopsy we record the family’s story. For stillbirth and newborn deaths, we collect maternal clinical information.

HOW CHAMPS OPERATES

W H A T I S C H A M P S?

Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance saves lives by collecting, analyzing, and sharing accurate and timely data about causes of child mortality in regions where it is highest.

CHAMPS uses tissue samples, laboratory diagnostics, expert multidisciplinary panels, and demographic and mortality surveillance to accurately determine causes of stillbirth and death in children under the age of five in the places where we work.

WHERE CHAMPS OPERATES

CHAMPS operates in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

  • Demographic Surveillance System (DSS)

CHAMPS conducts demographic surveillance to identify and track all pregnancies, births, deaths, and population numbers in each catchment area. DSS data provide context for how CHAMPS deaths can be interpreted relative all deaths in each catchment area.

  • Mortality Surveillance

When CHAMPS is notified of a death or stillbirth, we seek consent from the family to collect data.

  • Data Collection

CHAMPS datasets include information from multiple sources. With family consent we collect tissue and body fluid samples that undergo testing. We gather information from clinical records. And through verbal autopsy we record the family’s story. For stillbirth and newborn deaths, we collect maternal clinical information.

  • Laboratory Work

Tissue and body fluid specimens are submitted to CHAMPS’ labs for the following tests:

  • TaqMan Array Cards (TAC), a platform using customized multiplexed PCR assays to test for over 100 pathogens
  • Standardized testing for diseases like HIV, malaria, and TB
  • Histopathology
  • Microbiology
  • DeCoDe

The Determination of the Cause of Death (DeCoDe) method uses a multidisciplinary panel of experts who assess information from the verbal autopsy, clinical abstractions (child and maternal), laboratory and pathology results, and any additional information HAMPS gathers. The DeCode panel follows the International Class cation of Diseases, Tenth Revision(ICD-10) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to assign underlying, immediate, and intermediate causes of death for each case.

MITS A SOLUTION TO DETERMINING THE CAUSE OF CHILD MORTALITY

Minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) is a series of biopsies of key organs, allowing examination of body tissues in places where conducting full autopsies is not practical.