A data platform to improve rabies prevention, Sri Lanka.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Rabies prevention in Sri Lanka faces challenges due to fragmented and delayed information sharing.
• This hinders effective patient follow-up and public health surveillance efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement an electronic platform for rabies surveillance in Sri Lanka.
• To improve real-time data access and communication for rabies prevention initiatives.

Main Methods:

• Adapted existing technologies to create an electronic rabies surveillance platform.
• Trained clinical staff entered patient data, visualized in real-time.
• Automated short message system (SMS) used for patient alerts and public health inspector notifications.

Main Results:

• Over 9 months, 12,121 animal bites were registered.
• Clinicians and public health teams accessed live patient treatment and outcome data.
• SMS reminders were sent to 71.2% of patients, and 17 public health inspectors received daily bite incident alerts.

Conclusions:

• Existing technologies can be effectively utilized in low-resource settings to enhance public health surveillance.
• Investment in platform development, staff training, and support is crucial.
• Increased public engagement is necessary to improve surveillance completeness and treatment adherence.