Vietnam has routinely monitored HIV sero-prevalence among key populations through its HIV sentinel surveillance system (HSS). In 2010, this system was updated to include a behavioral component (HSS+) among people who inject drugs, female sex workers, and men who have sex with men. HSS+ has historically used a paper-based questionnaire for data collection. At the end of the survey, provincial data were manually entered into computers using EpiData Entry forms (http://www.epidata.dk/) and submitted to the Vietnam Authority of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC). As a result, feedback to provinces on data issues was not provided until after fieldwork completion. One recent survey used tablets for data collection and found that it saved time, required fewer staff, and reduced costs compared to paper-based data collection. In 2017, Vietnam introduced tablet for behavioral data collection in HSS+ to improve data quality, resource saving, and to provide more timely access to data.
Objective:
To describe the implementation process, successes, challenges, and lessons learned of the application of tablet for data collection and data system in HIV sentinel surveillance in Vietnam.