Enabling semantic interoperability of regional trendsof disease surveillance data for Namibia througha health-standards-based approach

Abstract

The Ministry of Health and Social Services in Namibia under the division of epidemiology uses a manual paper-based approach to capture disease surveillance data through 5 levels of reporting, the levels being communitylevel, health facility level, district level, regional level, and national level. As a result, this method of communicatingand exchanging disease surveillance information is cost and time consuming, which prevents disease surveillanceinformation from reaching the head office on time. The current method used to exchange and communicate diseasesurveillance data is a manual process and very time consuming due to the fact that surveillance officers have toorganize and store the files and hunt down the information when it is needed. Therefore, the study developed aprototype that aggregates disease surveillance data from 14 regions in Namibia and can thus enable the diseaseservice office to capture disease surveillance data through the use of mobile devices. The functionality of theprototype would allow a disease surveillance officer in one regional office to access the data of other regionaloffice in real time. The method used to communicate disease surveillance data is through the excel spreadsheet(IDSR), which is called the integrated disease surveillance and response. Furthermore, the excel file will be sentto the relevant authority through email. However, we still do not have a web-based system to report cases ofdiseases. Instead, this is a process starting from the intermediate hospital disease surveillance data, which iscaptured then sent to the regional office and from the regional office to the district office and then to the nationaloffice and from the national office the information is further sent to the WHO and other development partners aswell as to the top management or to the highest authority. So it does not end at the national level but goes tomanagement such as the Permanent Secretary, and the data is used to inform the development partners, and thenational surveillance office prepares official letters to the management as a form of reporting disease surveillancedata. The symphonic surveillance office helps to detect a particular disease. The doctors send an investigationcase form to the laboratory for testing the disease that has been identified.