title: Establishing a twin registry in Guinea-Bissau.
abstract: Twins traditionally retain a special status in many African societies. In Guinea-Bissau, twins are often well regarded yet still suffer from a very high mortality, especially in the perinatal and infant period. At the Bandim Health Project, a health and demographic surveillance site, we have recently established one of the first twin registries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our short-term aim is to describe twin mortality and morbidity in order to design appropriate health interventions. Our long-term goal is a large-scale database to explore the pathogenesis of prevalent diseases; for example, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, and infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. A major focus area is also the etiology of low birth weight and how epigenetic processes might modulate the consequences of low birth weight in Sub-Saharan Africa. For this, monozygotic twin studies represent a powerful tool. Though twin studies have been carried out by the Bandim Health Project for more than 30 years, the renewed registry described here was officially established in 2009 and includes both a cohort of newborn twins and a cohort of young and adult twins. Currently more than 1,500 twins are being followed in the two cohorts combined. We believe that the registry holds exciting possibilities and will encourage the establishment of further twin registries across the region.
authors.affiliation: Bandim Health Project, INDEPTH Network, National Institute of Health, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. mban@dadlnet.dk
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bjerregaard-Andersen
authors.forename: Margarida A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Luis C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Joaquím
authors.forename: Amabelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Dorte M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Christine S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Benn
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aaby
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beck-Nielsen
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sodemann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D006169:Guinea-Bissau / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012042:Registries; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult