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COVID-19 surveillance systems in African countries
Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi1,2,3, Adrian Rabe1,4, Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno Iii1,5
1Global Health Focus Africa, Nigeria.
Health Promotion Perspectives
|January 26, 2022
Summary
COVID-19 surveillance systems in 13 African nations vary in implementation. Key challenges include resource shortages and weak health systems, necessitating tailored strategies for effective disease response.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Infectious Disease Surveillance
Background:
- Disease surveillance is critical for effective outbreak response, particularly for COVID-19.
- Understanding surveillance systems and challenges in African countries is essential for public health preparedness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify COVID-19 surveillance systems in 13 African countries.
- To analyze the challenges associated with implementing these surveillance systems.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive narrative review of peer-reviewed literature from January 2020 to April 2021.
- Searches conducted in PubMed, Medline, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar using specific terms.
- Inclusion of studies and data on COVID-19 surveillance in 13 specified African countries.
Main Results:
- African countries have implemented diverse COVID-19 surveillance methods, including case notification, virological, hospital-based, and mortality surveillance.
- Implementation levels of surveillance systems and the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy are uneven across countries.
- Significant challenges identified include human resource shortages, poor data management, weak health systems, ethical complexities, diagnostic limitations, co-epidemic burdens, and geographical barriers.
Conclusions:
- Variations in COVID-19 surveillance implementation across African countries require improved coordination.
- Addressing challenges through tailored strategies is crucial for strengthening disease surveillance and response in the region.
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