Mecha Demographic Surveillance and Field Research Center (MDSFRC) is located in Mecha district of West Gojjam Zone of Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia. Mecha district is the widest and most populous district among 18 districts in West Gojjam Zone. The district is located 35 km southwest of Bahir Dar City, on the main road of Bahir Dar to Addis Ababa. It has 38 rural and seven urban kebeles with 166 909 km2 area coverage. Over 85% of the district area is cultivable, and areas within the basins of the Koga man-made dam are productive throughout the year. The district has 13 health centers, one general hospital, and 37 health posts.

The MDSFRC was established in 2013 with the vision of becoming one of the top ten premier health surveillance and research centers in Africa by 2030. The research center comprises three urban and seven rural Kebeles (the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia) that were randomly selected from the 38 rural and six urban Kebeles of Mecha district. It includes three geo-climatic conditions, namely Dega (highland and cold), Woina (midland and temperate), and Kolla (lowland and hot). The choice was made with the assumption that there would be differences in morbidity and mortality in the different climate areas. 

The main activities of the center are assessing housing conditions, monitoring demographic-altering events such as birth, death, and migration; and health-related conditions such as pregnancy and its outcomes, immunization, morbidity, and conducting verbal autopsy to identify the causes of death. Conducting problem-solving research, participatory community research, and timely dissemination of research and community service outputs to support decision-making practices are also among the main tasks of the research center. During the first census in July 2016, a total of 65,086 households were enumerated, and baseline data from all individuals living in these households were collected. Four consecutive rounds of data collection were conducted in 2017, 2018, and 2019 on a biannual basis. 

Currently, a total of 74,237 individuals are being monitored. Furthermore, we have recently expanded the Mecha Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) by including six urban Kebeles in Bahir Dar City. We have registered 43,434 residents who live in 17,468 households, providing baseline data for the newly established Bahir Dar City cohort.

Contacts:
Dr Mesafint Molla Adane, Coordinator of Mecha HDSS-FRC, TRDC, CMHS, BDU, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, 

Mobile/WhatsApp: +251918121064, 

Email address: Mesafint.Molla@bdu.edu.et.

Figure 1: Map of Macha with randomly selected kebeles for Mecha DSFRC, 2020.