AFRO-NETS> New Software from Population Council Available Free on the Internet

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@pcdc.org>]

New Software from Population Council Available Free on the Internet
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A new software program called the Household Registration System (HRS) 
facilitates the collection, management, and analysis of data gener-
ated by demographic surveillance systems. As the first software sys-
tem designed to function as a template for generating DSS computer 
programs, the HRS enhances the ability of researchers to carry out 
longitudinal population-based surveillance and related studies that 
track every member of a population over time. The software, HRS2(tm), 
is available free for non-commercial use directly from the Council's 
Web site at:
http://www.popcouncil.org/hrs/hrs.html

The HRS is described in a new publication, "The Household Registra-
tion System: A Point-and-Click Revolution in Health and Demographic 
Research," available on request and online at:
http://www.popcouncil.org/

The HRS was conceived by Council researcher James Phillips and de-
signed by computer scientist Bruce MacLeod, an expert in software en-
gineering at the University of Southern Maine. Funding from several 
sources - The Finnish International Development Agency, The Mellon 
Foundation, The Population Council, The Rockefeller Foundation, The 
Thrasher Research Fund, and the United Nations Population Fund - has 
supported development, testing, and dissemination of the HRS.

The HRS was field tested in northern Ghana by the Navrongo Health Re-
search Centre, an outpost of Ghana's Ministry of Health. The HRS 
serves as the engine of the Navrongo Demographic Surveillance System, 
which is regarded as a model DSS in the developing world. Several Af-
rican scientists played key roles in developing and testing the HRS, 
including health scientist Fred Binka, former director of the Nav-
rongo Centre; computer scientist Frank Indome, a former Population 
Council consultant; and demographer Pierre Ngom, a Population Council 
fellow.

Outside of Navrongo, the HRS is now in use at 11 sites: three in Tan-
zania, two in Kenya, and one each in Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Indo-
nesia, Mali, Mozambique, and Uganda. Data from sites using HRS-based 
systems have yielded important public health findings-such as a cor-
relation between HIV prevalence and adult mortality from malaria, a 
disease that is usually fatal only to children. For more information 
contact:
Christina Horzepa
Tel: +1-212-339-0520

The Population Council is an international, non-profit, nongovernmen-
tal research organization that seeks to improve the reproductive 
health and wellbeing of current and future generations around the 
world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable bal-
ance between people and resources. The Council conducts biomedical, 
social science, and public health research and helps build research 
capacities in developing countries. Established in 1952, the Council 
is governed by an international board of trustees. Its New York head-
quarters supports a global network of regional and country offices.

Cecilia Snyder
Dissemination Specialist 
Horizons/Population Council 
4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 280
Washington, DC 20008, USA
Tel: +1-202-237-9400
Fax: +1-202-237-8410
mailto:csnyder@pcdc.org 
http://www.popcouncil.org/horizons/horizons.html

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