Enhancing disease surveillance in Uganda: Boot camp for customization of vaccine-preventable disease dashboards in eIDSR
- by AFENET
In a collaborative effort between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AFENET, and key stakeholders, a four-day boot camp is underway to customize and optimize the vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) dashboards for Measles/Rubella and Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in Uganda’s Electronic Infectious Disease Surveillance and Response (eIDSR) system.
As part of the GEEKS (Growing Expertise in E-health Knowledge and Skills) subprojects, focus is on optimizing the DHIS2 Platform (eIDSR) for case-based surveillance reporting of VPDs. While progress has been made, existing dashboards fall short of meeting the reporting and surveillance indicator needs of the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization (UNEPI), necessitating a comprehensive review and customization.
The ongoing boot camp, scheduled from January 16th to 19th, 2024, brings together 21 participants from UNEPI, the Division of Health Information (DHI), the Health Information System Program (HISP) Uganda, and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). The camp’s objectives include defining key program indicators, customizing dashboards, and updating the eIDSR system.
Expected Outputs:
- Dictionary of VPD program indicators such as Measles/Rubella, AFP/Polio, Neo-natal tetanus, AEFI, yellow fever and Hep B indicators
- Updated dashboard for AFP
- Updated dashboard for Measles/Rubella
- Updated user manual.
This initiative underscores Uganda’s commitment to leveraging advanced technology for disease surveillance and response. The outcomes of this boot camp are expected to enhance the effectiveness of the eIDSR system in monitoring and managing vaccine-preventable diseases, contributing to the overall improvement of public health in Uganda.
Uganda’s Department of Integrated Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Public Health Emergencies, in collaboration UNEPI, has been actively involved in the GEEKS project. This initiative, launched in November 2022, aims to enhance technical skills among government professionals for the effective management of health information systems and data.