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BioSurveillance

Description

In September, 2015, Nigeria was delisted from the list of polio endemic countries globally. To be certified polio free, the country must attain and maintain certification standard Acute Flaccid Paralysis(AFP) surveillance for additional two-years. In Oyo State, no case of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) has been reported since February, 2009.

Objective

We evaluated the AFP surveillance system in Oyo State to assessits attributes and determine if it was meeting its set objectives.

Submitted by teresa.hamby@d… on
Description

Evaluation and strengthening of biosurveillance systems is acomplex process that involves sequential decision steps, numerous stakeholders, and requires accommodating multiple and conflicting objectives. Biosurveillance evaluation, the initiating step towards biosurveillance strengthening, is a multi-dimensional decision problem that can be properly addressed via multi-criteria-decision models.Existing evaluation frameworks tend to focus on “hard” technical attributes (e.g. sensitivity) while ignoring other “soft” criteria (e.g. transparency) of difficult measurement and aggregation. As a result, biosurveillance value, a multi-dimensional entity, is not properly defined or assessed. Not addressing the entire range of criteria leads to partial evaluations that may fail to convene sufficient support across the stakeholders’ base for biosurveillance improvements.We seek to develop a generic and flexible evaluation framework capable of integrating the multiple and conflicting criteria and values of different stakeholders, and which is sufficiently tractable to allow quantification of the value of specific biosurveillance projects towards the overall performance of biosurveillance systems.

Objective

To describe the development of an evaluation framework that allows quantification of surveillance functions and subsequent aggregation towards an overall score for biosurveillance system performance.

Submitted by teresa.hamby@d… on
Description

Epidemiological modeling for infectious disease is useful for disease management and routine implementation needs to be facilitated through better description of models in an operational context. A standardized model characterization process that allows selection or making manual comparisons of available models and their results is currently lacking. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has developed a comprehensive framework that can be used to characterize an infectious disease model in an operational context. We offer this framework and an associated database to stakeholders of the infectious disease modeling field as a tool for standardizing model

description and facilitating the use of epidemiological models. Such a framework could help the understanding of diverse models by various stakeholders with different preconceptions, backgrounds, expertise, and needs, and can foster greater use of epidemiological models as tools in infectious disease surveillance.

Objectives

1. To develop a comprehensive model characterization framework to describe epidemiological models in an operational context.

2. To apply the framework to characterize “operational” models for specific infectious diseases and provide a web-based directory, the biosurveillance analytics resource directory (BARD) to the global infectious disease surveillance community.

Submitted by Magou on
Description

RTI International has worked on enhancing health information and disease surveillance systems in many countries, including The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Philippines, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Strengthening these systems is critical for all three of the Prevent, Detect and Respond domains within the Global Health Security Agenda. 

We have deep experience in this area, ranging from implementing District Health Information Software (DHIS), electronic medical records, health facility registries, eHealth national strategies, electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system (eIDSR), mobile real-time malaria surveillance and response, national weekly disease surveillance, patient referral system, and community based surveillance. These experiences and lessons learned can inform work being done to advance the GHSA.

We will discuss several examples, including activities in Zimbabwe and Tanzania. RTI has been working in Zimbabwe for over six years to strengthen the national health information system. This work has included the configuration and roll-out of DHIS 2, the national electronic health information system. In doing so, RTI examined and revitalized the weekly disease surveillance system, improving disease reporting timeliness and completeness from 40% to 90%. Additionally, RTI has integrated mobile technology to help more rapidly communicate laboratory test results, a laboratory information management systems to manage and guide test sample processing, and various other patient level systems in support of health service delivery at the local level. This work has involved capacity building within the ministry of health to allow for sustainable support of health information systems practices and technology and improvements to data dissemination and use practices. 

Objective

The objective is to discuss two decades of international experience in health information and disease surveillance systems strengthening and synthesize lessons learned as applicable to implementation of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). 

Submitted by uysz on