Information transmission process for disease notification and feedback in the community-based disease surveillance system in Anambra State, Nigeria.
Main Article Content
Abstract
Disease surveillance and notification (DSN) system has been shown to be weak in Nigeria and still needs to be built up for effective detection and response to some communities. The aim of this paper is to assess the reporting and feedback mechanisms in the Community-based surveillance System (CBSS) in Anambra State, Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 360 community-based focal points in Anambra State selected by multistage sampling technique. Data collection was by interview using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20, associations between variables were tested using Chi square, Fisher’s exact and t tests as appropriate (p<0.05). Forty-one (13.1%) focal points sent in reports for at least four times, (72.2%) received feedback within the last one year and (44.6%) was via the phone. However, 229 (63.6%) of the respondents gave the feedback to the community mainly via the village health committees (44.1%). Respondents’ occupation, ever detected notifiable disease; source of information; person the detected disease was reported to; records of notified disease kept by focal points; number of times reports were sent in the last one year, received feedback given to community members, availability of supervisors for focal points and volunteer benefit from being focal points were found to have associations with receipt of feedback on disease case notification (p<0.05). This study found poor reporting but good feedback mechanisms. However, there is need to reform the State CBSS in line with the above findings in order to make it more functional.
References
Abubakar AA, Sambo MN, Idris SH, Sabitu K, Nguku P. Assessment of integrated disease surveillance and response strategy implementation in selected local government areas of Kaduna state. Ann Nigerian Med. 2013;7(1):14-19.
Adokiya MN, Awoonor-Williams JK, Barau IY, Beiersmann C, Mueller O. Evaluation of the integrated disease surveillance and response system for infectious diseases control in northern Ghana. BMC Public Health. 2015; 15:75.
Anambra State Ministry of Health. Anambra State government strategic health development plan (2010-2015). 2010. Available at: www.mamaye.org/sites/default/files/.../ANAMBRA%20SSHDP%2015012010.pdf.
Aniwada EC, Obionu CN. Disease surveillance and notification, knowledge and practice among private and public primary health care workers in Enugu State, Nigeria: A comparative study. Br J Med Med Res. 2016;13(3):1-10.
Araoye MO. Research methodology with statistics for health and social sciences. 2nd ed. Illorin: Nathadex Publications; 2008.
Chau PD. Evaluation of disease surveillance system to detect diseases in Cambodia. J Natl Inst Public Health 2007;56(4):412-413.
Cox J, Soley LD, Bunkea T. Evaluation of community-based systems for the surveillance of day three-positive Plasmodium falciparum cases in Western Cambodia. Malar J. 2014;13:282.
Federal Ministry of Health Abuja, Nigeria. National policy on integrated disease surveillance and response. Abuja, Nigeria. 2005. Available at: https://cheld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/National-Policy-on-Integrated-Disease-Surveillance-and-Response.pdf.
Howard-Grabman L. Bridging the gap between communities and services providers: Developing accountability through community mobilisation approaches. IDS Bull. 2000;31:88–96.
Hyman P. ‘Peace technologies’ enable eyewitness reporting when disasters strike. Commun ACM. 2014;57(1):27-29.
International Business Machines Corporation. IBM-Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 20. Somers New York: IBM Corporation; 2011.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Community-based surveillance - Guiding principles. 2017. Available at: https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/03/CommunityBasedSurveillance_Global-LR.pdf.
Isere EE, Fatiregun AA, Ajayi IO. An overview of disease surveillance and notification system in Nigeria and the roles of clinicians in disease outbreak prevention and control. Niger Med J. 2015;56(3):161-8.
Kyei-Faried S, Appiah-Denkyira E, Brenya D, Akuamoa-Boateng A, Visser L. The role of community-based surveillance in health outcomes measurement. Ghana Med J. 2006;40(1):26-30.
Lafond KE, Dalhatu I, Shinde V, Ekanem EE, Ahmed S, Peebles P, Kudumu M, Bynum M, Salami K, Okeibunor J, Schwingl P, Mounts A, Nasidi A, Gross D. Notifiable disease reporting among public sector physicians in Nigeria: A cross sectional survey to evaluate possible barriers and identify best sources of information. BMC Health Serv Res. 2014;14:568
National Bureau of Statistics. Nigeria’s population now 193.3 million. 2016. Available at: https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/.
Nigeria Data Portal. Nigeria Population Census 2006. 2006. Available at: http://nigeria.opendataforafrica.org/xspplpb/nigeria-census.
Nnebue CC, Onwasigwe CN, Adogu POU, Onyeonoro UU. Awareness and knowledge of disease surveillance and notification by health-care workers and availability of facility records in Anambra state, Nigeria. Niger Med J. 2012;53(4):220-225.
Nsubuga P. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa: a story of related public health challenges and a pointer to solutions to mitigate the inevitable next outbreak. Pan Afr Med J. 2014;19:48.
Oum S, Chandramohan D, Cairncross S. Community-based surveillance: A pilot study from rural Cambodia. Trop Med Int Health 2005;10(7):689-697.
Pandey R, Verma MR. Samples allocation in different strata for impact evaluation of developmental programme. Rev Bras Biom São Paulo 2008;26(4):103-112.
Pascoe L, Lungo J, Kaasboll J, Koleleni I. Collecting integrated disease surveillance and response data through mobile phones. In: Proceedings of the IST-Africa 2012 conference proceedings. 2012. Presented at: IST-Africa 2012 conference and exhibitions; 2012; Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271516728_Collecting_Integrated_Disease_Surveillance_and_Response_Data_through_Mobile_Phones.
WHO, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Technical guidelines for integrated disease surveillance and response in the African region. 2nd edition. Brazzaville, Republic of Congo and Atlanta, USA. 2010:1–398. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/idsr/pdf/technicalguidelines/idsr-technical-guidelines-2nd-edition_2010_english.pdf
WHO. Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response in the African Region: A guide for establishing community based surveillance. 2014. Available from: https://www.afro.who.int/index.php?option.
WHO. International Health Regulations (2005). 3rd ed. Geneva: The Organization; 2016. Available from: http://www.who.int/topics/international_health_regulations/en/.
WHO/CDS/CSR/ISR. Protocol for the Assessment of National Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response Systems. 2001. Available at: www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/surveillance/whocdscsrisr20012.pdf.