MITS Surveillance Alliance awards grants to expand use of minimally invasive tissue sampling into existing mortality surveillance sites

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The MITS Surveillance Alliance (MITS Alliance), led by RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, recently announced the selection of its three-year grant awards to support the integration of the Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) approach into existing mortality surveillance site systems.

MITS is an innovative post-mortem examination approach that provides improved cause of death (CoD) data critical to understanding the causes of mortality. When used with other data, MITS can help governments and health institutions better understand the causes of mortality and assist with planning and prioritizing public health policies and interventions.

Five grants totaling $1.5 million US were awarded to the following new surveillance sites:

• Kintampo, Ghana: Kintampo Health Research Centre
• New Delhi, India: INCLEN Trust International
• Pokhara, Nepal: Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital and Research Center (Perinatal MITS Nepal)
• Johannesburg, South Africa: MRC/WITS Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand
• Iganga, Uganda: Makerere University Centre for Health and Population Research (MUCHAP)

“Incorporating MITS into existing mortality surveillance programs is critical to providing accurate cause of death data to inform and address global public health challenges,” said Norman Goco, Program Director and Senior Public Health Research Analyst in the Global Public Health Impact Center and the Project Director of the MITS Alliance Secretariat. “The MITS surveillance site grants will enable these institutions to integrate this method into current mortality surveillance systems.”

The MITS Alliance is a leading coalition focused on establishing MITS as a standard approach for mortality surveillance for all populations.

For more information, visit mitsalliance.org.

About the MITS Surveillance Alliance
The MITS Surveillance Alliance (MITS Alliance) brings together experts focused on implementing MITS to provide comprehensive cause of death (CoD) information for public health officials and other decision-makers. We convene experts to standardize MITS procedures and share best practices and lessons learned, as well as provide training, tools, materials, and expertise to facilitate the use and implementation of pathology-based surveillance.

Core MITS Alliance partners include the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); The Ohio State University; Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Infectious Disease Pathology Branch; and the CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The MITS Alliance is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About RTI International
RTI International is an independent, nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. RTI answers questions that demand an objective and multidisciplinary approach—one that integrates expertise across the social and laboratory sciences, engineering, and international development. RTI believes in the promise of science, and we are inspired every day to deliver on that promise for the good of people, communities, and businesses around the world.