Uganda - Proposal for Plan to Strengthen Integrated Disease Surveillance

Alex Riolexus Ario and colleagues at the Uganda National Institute of Public Health will develop a plan that transforms disease surveillance in Uganda by upgrading it to an integrated, real-time, digitized national disease surveillance system that works across the human, animal and environment sectors. Uganda is located in the eco-rich Congo basin and the filovirus and meningitis belts, which increase the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and natural disasters. While electronic tools and reporting are available, they have limited coverage, use, and interoperability across sectors. Their proposal will bring together relevant stakeholders to develop objectives, strategies and activities, as well as costing and roadmaps. The plan will involve multiple collaborators in activities including linking the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system with case-based surveillance to determine disease burdens. It will also involve further digitizing laboratory data, and integrating and ensuring interoperability of the multiple surveillance data reporting platforms currently used by the different sectors.