Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40443944›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2025

Scaling up of electronic case-based disease surveillance reporting for COVID-19 and other notifiable diseases through capacity building and antigen RDT provision: a case study of Sierra Leone.

James Sylvester Squire, Ian Njeru, Robert Musoke, Joseph Sam Kanu, Fatmata Bangura, Zikan Koroma, Doris Harding, Stephen Sesay, Bridget Magoba, Ismail Mahat Bashir and 4 more

Abstract read
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Article in Frontiers in public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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2 · The registry

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

James Sylvester SquireMinistry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Ian NjeruWorld Health Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Robert MusokeWorld Health Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Joseph Sam KanuMinistry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Fatmata BanguraDistrict Health Management Team, Western Area Urban, Sierra Leone.
Zikan KoromaMinistry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Doris HardingMinistry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Stephen SesayWorld Health Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Bridget MagobaAfrican Field Epidemiology Network, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Ismail Mahat BashirWorld Health Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Victor CaulkerWorld Health Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Mohamed VandiMinistry of Health, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Innocent Bright NuwagiraWorld Health Organization, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Charles NjugunaWorld Health Organization - Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Electronic case-based disease surveillance (eCBDS) provides timely and detailed data collection on diseases and their risk factors for control actions. Use of eCBDS is still low in many African countries including Sierra Leone due to technological, financial, and human resource challenges. Sierra Leone started using eCBDS in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic provided the right opportunity for scale up. To support the scale up, a capacity building project was carried out on use of eCBDS for COVID-19 reporting as well as use of COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic kits (RDTs). This paper describes how the capacity building was conducted and the outcomes. Methods: This was a descriptive study where 607 health workers from 155 health facilities in 16 districts were trained on COVID-19 case-based reporting and RDTs use. The training was conducted in phases from November 2021 to June 2022 and post-training monitoring for impact was done up to May 2024. Data collection was done mainly through the eCBDS system where quantitative data was downloaded and analyzed for response timelines. Qualitative data was collected from key informants from selected health facilities using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The number of health facilities that had ever reported a case of a notifiable disease through the eCBDS in the country was 385/1423 (27%) as of 30th June 2021 (before training) and this increased to 58% as of 30th May 2024 (endline). The total number of cases (all diseases) reported in eCBDS from January 2019 to 30th May 2024 was 54,794. Of the reported cases, 44,908 (82%) were suspected COVID-19 cases of which 7,634 (17%) were confirmed positive. Before the training, 97.3% of suspected COVID-19 cases were notified to the district by the health facilities within 24 h, and this improved slightly to 98.1% afterwards. Case investigation with sample collection within 24 h of notification improved from 91.6 to 98.2% before and after the training, respectively. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity for the country to scale up eCBDS in more health facilities, and this improved notification and investigation timelines. However, more still needs to be done to ensure countrywide use of eCBDS.

Indexed as

Capacity BuildingCOVID-19COVID-19 Serological TestingPopulation SurveillanceDisease NotificationHealth PersonnelHumansSARS-CoV-2Sierra Leonecase-basedCOVID-19disease surveillanceelectronicSierra Leone

Identifiers

PMID40443944
PMCPMC12119462

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