FROM DIRECTOR’ S DESK
The Birbhum Population Project (BIRPOP) under the stewardship of the Society for Health and Demographic Surveillance (SHDS) was envisioned as an innovative research initiative that would facilitate evidence-based research to inform state and national public health policy. Over the past decade, BIRPOP has monitored over 13,000 households in some of the most marginalized communities in West Bengal to better understand the evolution of rural public health needs and gaps to inform policy change and programme development. With a team of nearly 50 surveyors and experts in the fields of data analytics, demography, public health and medicine, we have been able to investigate a range of pressing topics, including maternal and child health, nutrition and the growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases. A complete list of our published works can be found here.
Here at SHDS, we are always eager to partner with researchers and practitioners from around the country, and the globe, to advance the mission we have started with BIRPOP so as to better serve the needs of these communities through our research and findings. We are grateful to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal for their financial support in sustaining this initiative.
We thank you for your interest in the work of SHDS and BIRPOP, andlook forward to collaborating with you!