Sangath is one of India’s leading community based health research NGOs. It has been cited in a recent report on the role of NGOs in public health as having led to “innovative research of relevance to public health in developing countries” (PLoS Med 2007;4(9):e272). The main health conditions and issues we research are mental disorders (particularly depression and alcohol abuse), adolescent health, reproductive and sexual health and maternal and child health. The major research themes are:

• The burden and determinants of these health problems, especially social determinants such as poverty and gender inequity

• Health services research, including social science and economic research

• The development and evaluation of primary care and community interventions

Sangath has gained experience in conducting both quantitative epidemiological studies (including some of the largest cohort and randomized controlled trials in India) as well as qualitative research. Through this research, Sangath has developed a core human and institutional infrastructure for research. At the time of publishing this report, we could boast ten service providers who have completed or are in the process of completing higher degrees in research disciplines related to public health from prestigious national and international institutions such as the International Institute for Population Sciences (Mumbai), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Kings College London. We have a dedicated data management team with a networked computer data management system. Our annual course in community health research methods continues with most of the teaching being carried out by our service providers. We have established a strong research partnership with local institutions (such as the Directorate of Health Services, Government of Goa) and international academic institutes (such as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine). Our research is supported by some of the world’s leading medical research funders such as the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the National Institutes for Health (USA).

Sangath places great emphasis on ensuring the highest standards of ethics in our research. We have an Institutional Review Board which fulfils the ICMR guidelines and is approved by the Office of Human Research Participants Protection of the US. As far as possible, research participants are offered free healthcare relevant to the research: for example, participants who have symptoms of mental disorder are referred to a Sangath professional. Our trials are managed by independent Trial Steering Committees and Data Monitoring and Ethics Committees, and we seek approval of the Indian Council for Medical Research for all our international collaborative research projects.

Our research is ‘action-oriented’ with multi-faceted dissemination to a range of target audiences. Workshops, brochures, scientific articles, treatment manuals and reports are actively encouraged in order to ensure that the findings of the research reach those who will be able to make good use of them. In particular, we ensure that the communities that participate in our research are among the first to receive findings. Of course, we place emphasis on ensuring our research is published in leading international journals to maximize its impact on health care and policies. A full list of our publications in the previous two years can be found later in this report.