Observational studyBMC public health2015
Evaluation of the integrated disease surveillance and response system for infectious diseases control in northern Ghana.
Observational study in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Preparedness of the Ghana Health Service for field epidemiology and applied biostatistics: a systematic review of infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigation methodologies, and statistical modeling capacities in resource-limited settings.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) in Africa: a systematic review using the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR).Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Cholera burden in Ghana: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, antimicrobial resistance and risk factors.International health · 2025Pooled it
- The epidemiology of infectious meningitis in Ghana: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of cholera surveillance systems in Africa: a systematic review.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Development and validation of a framework to improve neglected tropical diseases surveillance and response at sub-national levels in Kenya.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Systematic review of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) implementation in the African region.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Evaluation of the measles surveillance system in Chereponi District, Ghana, 2019-2024.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Evaluating documentation of follow-up laboratory testing in TB treatment monitoring in the Eastern Region of Ghana: a consistency analysis of three facility registers.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Escaping the metric-driven governance trap in global health: how DALYs and coverage indicators mislead policymakers in LMICs.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Challenges to 'Last Mile' Surveillance: Result of Programmatic Review of Integrated Skin NTDs Surveillance in Three Indonesian Districts.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026Article
- Institutional capacity for non-communicable disease care in Ghana's primary health care system: a multi-method study.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Article
- Evaluating the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system in Sidama Region, Ethiopia: A systems evaluation.PloS one · 2026Article
- Assessing the implementation of the disease surveillance and response strategy in Togo.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Low use of data analytics for health sector priority-setting in Ghana: A case for strengthening analytical capacity.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Practical norms in emerging infectious disease control: lessons for transnational collaboration from a suspected newly emerging zoonosis outbreak in Ghana.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Barriers and facilitators of infectious disease outbreak reporting: a One Health scoping review.One health outlook · 2025Article
- Completeness of tuberculosis case notification in Ghana: record linkage and capture-recapture analysis of three TB registries.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWell-functioning surveillance systems are crucial for effective disease control programs. The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy was developed and adopted in 1998 for Africa as a comprehensive public health approach and subsequently, Ghana adopted the IDSR technical guidelines in 2002. Since 2012, the IDSR data is reported through the new District Health Information Management System II (DHIMS2) network. The objective was to evaluate the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system in northern Ghana.
methodsThis was an observational study using mixed methods. Weekly and monthly IDSR data on selected infectious diseases were downloaded and analyzed for 2011, 2012 and 2013 (the years before, of and after DHIMS2 implementation) from the DHIMS2 databank for the Upper East Region (UER) and for two districts of UER. In addition, key informant interviews were conducted among local and regional health officers on the functioning of the IDSR.
resultsClinically diagnosed malaria was the most prevalent disease in UER, with an annual incidence rate close to 1. Around 500 suspected HIV/AIDS cases were reported each year. The highest incidence of cholera and meningitis was reported in 2012 (257 and 392 cases respectively). Three suspected cases of polio and one suspected case of guinea worm were reported in 2013. None of the polio and guinea worm cases and only a fraction of the reported cases of the other diseases were confirmed. A major observation was the large and inconclusive difference in reported cases when comparing weekly and monthly reports. This can be explained by the different reporting practice for the sub-systems. Other challenges were low priority for surveillance, ill-equipped laboratories, rare supervision and missing feedback.
conclusionsThe DHIMS2 has improved the availability of IDSR reports, but the quality of data reported is not sufficient. Particularly the inconsistencies between weekly and monthly data need to be addressed. Moreover, support for and communication within the IDSR system is inadequate and calls for attention.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.