Philomena Efua Nyarko is a program officer in the International Programs Division for the Population Council's Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS). She provides technical assistance for operations research projects undertaken by Ghanaian partner organizations to test strategies for improving reproductive health service delivery. Her work also involves building the capacity of these organizations to produce and use operations research to ensure access to quality reproductive health services. Nyarko's research interests include maternal and child health, and demographic issues in general. Prior to joining the Population Council, she was a staff member at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she taught postgraduate courses in technical demography. Nyarko also has extensive research experience, having worked with the Navrongo Health Research Centre as a postdoctoral Mellon Fellow from 1999 to 2001 and with the Ghana Statistical Service, first as a statistician and finally as a principal statistician from 1987 to 1996. Her work at the Ghana Statistical Service involved planning and implementing statistical surveys, preparing statistical reports, and disseminating survey findings. As the head of the Demographic Surveillance System (DSS) at the Navrongo Health Research Centre, she had the overall responsibility of managing and supervising field operations, analyzing and disseminating data, and providing statistical and demographic support to other units within the Centre, particularly the Community Health and Family Planning project.
Nyarko has a doctorate in social statistics from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom and a postgraduate diploma in population studies from the University of Ghana.
A partial list of publications includes:
Nyarko, Philomena, Brian Pence, and Cornelius Debpuur. 2001."Immunization and child survival in Ghana, Policy Research Working Paper no. 147. New York: Population Council. (abstract) (PDF)
Nyarko, Philomena, Nyovani Madise, and Ian Diamond. 1998. Child loss and fertility behaviour in Ghana, Seminar on Reproductive Change in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, 2 4 November 1998, papers, IUSSP Committee on Fertility and Family Planning in collaboration with the African Population Policy Research Centre.
Batse, Z.M.K. and Philomena Nyarko. 1995. "Health, morbidity and mortality issues in Ghana, Analysis of Demographic Data, vol. 2: Detailed Analysis Reports. Accra: Ghana Statistical Service, 149-205.
A partial list of presentations includes:
Nyarko, Philomena. 2004. Child survival and fertility transition, paper presented at the Symposium on Reproductive Change in Ghana: Recent Patterns and Future Prospects, University of Ghana, Legon, 23 24 June.
Debpuur, Cornelius and Philomena Nyarko. 2000. Does the autonomy of women affect their health seeking behaviour and child survival? paper presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November.
Nyarko, Philomena, Nyovani Madise, and Ian Diamond. 1999. Infant mortality and the pace of childbearing in Ghana: Some evidence of son preference, paper presented at the Third African Population Conference in South Africa, 6 10 December. |