Abstract
Introduction: TB Surveillance is a critical component of the global TB response. Comprehensive, accurate and timely information on TB is crucial for an effective TB control program hence the need for a robust tuberculosis surveillance system in all countries that contribute to the global burden of TB including Nigeria. Against this backdrop, an intervention was set in motion to triangulate the information from the health data reporting systems towards improving the overall surveillance system for TB in the country. Objectives: This article highlights the best practices, lessons learnt and challenges associated with the implementation of TB surveillance in Nigeria. In resource-limited settings such as Nigeria where health systems including health information management are sub-optimal, there is a heavy reliance on national and sub-national TB surveillance systems. TB data is mainly reported through the National Tuberculosis Control, however the integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) system also provides a platform for TB data collation through the LGA and State disease surveillance and notification officers. Conclusion: Implementing TB surveillance in Nigeria brought to fore the need for a wider engagement of all health facilities in TB control. As a dividend of the TB surveillance intervention, quality of care was improved in the private health sector through effective linkages to the commodity management system of the NTP and the national treatment guidelines. Strengthening community health surveillance system was identified as a critical element of Tuberculosis control. Also, the efficiency birthed by the integration of TB surveillance into the IDSR structure opened up other potential opportunities such as a unified capacity building of community informants on all notifiable diseases and the integration of reporting and risk communication for all health issues at the community level.
Highlights
TB Surveillance is a critical component of the global TB response
Comprehensive, accurate and timely information on TB is crucial for an effective TB control program the need for a robust tuberculosis surveillance system in all countries that contribute to the global burden of TB including Nigeria
TB data is mainly reported through the National Tuberculosis Control, the integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) system provides a platform for TB data collation through the LGA and State disease surveillance and notification officers
Summary
Public health surveillance is described as the ongoing systematic collection, collation, analysis and interpretation of health information for informed and prompt public health action [1] [2]. Tuberculosis surveillance is the embodiment of all components of public health surveillance focused on TB data It describes the monitoring of incident and prevalent cases; risk of infection and deaths as a result of Tuberculosis and the use of such information to control TB epidemics [3]. Comprehensive, accurate and timely information is crucial for an effective TB control program the need for a robust TB surveillance system in all countries, including Nigeria, that contribute significantly to the global burden of TB [2] [7] [8]. Accurate and timely surveillance data is needed to monitor the quality of TB care [13] This is even more pertinent in resource-limited settings such as Nigeria where health systems including health information management are sub-optimal and less advanced compared to industrialized countries [8] [14]. This incidence forms the basis for estimating the TB disease burden at national and sub-national levels with large margins of error due to a projected population estimate derived from a national census conducted far back in 2006
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