Summary: The AMBSO Population Health Surveillance (APHS) is an open, longitudinal, population-based cohort following persons aged 13 years and above in diverse settings of rural, semi-urban and urban communities in the districts of Hoima and Wakiso situated in the Mid-western and Central regions of Uganda respectively.
Field based phlebotomy at the APHS Hub
APHS collects and stores biological specimens including blood (plasma), urine and swabs. At the APHS hub, blood is used to test for HIV and syphilis.
Annual survey visits are conducted to collect health and behavioral data including biological specimens. These data provide insights on the health and behavioral status of the population over a wide range of health priorities including communicable and non-communicable diseases, occupational health, genetic and emerging diseases. Prior to each survey, household census activities are conducted to document births, deaths, migration patterns, population structure, household composition, household structure, GPS data and Socio-economic indices to measure household income.APHS also serves as a platform for hosting nested studies, leveraging its capacity to track intervention progress, impact, and efficacy. To-date, we have hosted a number of impactful studies and are open for more.
Study site: AMBSO-Kampala Research Site, Wakiso Uganda and AMBSO-Hoima Research Site, Hoima Uganda
Key results:
Census: Since the first round of the APHS conducted between May 2018 and to Jul 2023, 36,855 individuals (47.8% males, 52.2% females) from 10,522 households have been censused. Of the census participants, 26,350 (71.5%) aged 13 years and above were eligible for survey.
Survey: 9,056 individuals have participated at least once. A total of 17,212 interviews and biological specimens have been collected across four annual visits. Overall, we are following approximately 5,000 participants annually.