Student health initiatives for enhanced disease surveillance in Ghana

Student Health Initiatives for Enhanced Disease Surveillance (SHIEDS) is a student-driven program that aims to strengthen infectious disease surveillance and enhance healthy lifestyles within university communities in Ghana. This study aimed to assess SHIEDS feasibility and implementation at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.

Between 29th June and 6th July 2024, educational campaigns were conducted, through radio and social media, to raise awareness about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among the student population. These campaigns ended with free screening for two STIs: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Participants provided verbal feedback that were reviewed and included in a recommendation report for the KNUST administration. Positive cases were offered counseling and referred for confirmatory testing at the University Hospital, KNUST, Ghana.

The SHIEDS awareness campaigns reached more than 20,000 people through social media and the radio outreach benefitted over 3,000 students, with 4 and 5-star ratings for overall program delivery and media campaigns, respectively. A total of 228 students, with mean age of 23 years (range of 18-29) consented to screen for STI by rapid diagnostic testing. The combined STI positivity rate was 0.87%, with rates of 1.01% for HBV and 0.77% for HIV detection among males and females, respectively; all being self-reported old cases on active treatment.

Review of student feedback recommended screening for other STIs including gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, and instituting SHIEDS as an annual event in the university calendar. Feasibility studies in other universities will inform program standardization and implementation across Ghana. Our findings indicated a healthy student community, which could serve as reference for future SHIEDS programs in KNUST, with scaling up at the national level.