Health Ministry aiming to standardize Case-based Electronic Surveillance Reporting

SAINT LUCIA is currently one of the OECS countries aiming to standardize Case Based Surveillance reporting and strengthen its Health Information Systems.

A four- day training workshop to train potential users of the Electronic Case- Based surveillance module system for HIV and Tuberculosis is currently taking place at the Bay Gardens Hotel.

Joan Didier of the OECS Regional Coordinating Mechanism, explains the aim of the workshop which commenced on Monday 20th of August, 2018.

“For the longest while it has been very difficult to get any data on the OECS countries,” she says.

According to Ms Didier, “If you were to do a search you would get data on Barbados, you would get the Bahamas, you would get Jamaica but you would get very scant data on the OECS and that has been our demise.

“So now we are hoping with the electronic case based surveillance system we will be able to collect the necessary data that we require because that will assist us in better programming and enable the countries to assess what they are doing.

“I am not sure if you are aware, but this has been rolled out in six countries, Saint Lucia is the last country and that’s because that is a collective under the OECS HIV and TB elimination grant. ”

The Ministry of Health and Wellness Infectious Disease Unit representative, Gail Gajadhar, said the installation and implementation of this software in St. Lucia will make processing, monitoring and accessing information more efficient and effective in the near future.

Gail Gajadhar of the Ministry of Health Infectious Disease Unit, says: ““We are obliged annually to fill out multiple reports.

“We have the Global AIDS monitoring reports, we also have regional reports and reports that we are supposed to full out biennial as well.

“So the idea is that this will allow us to capture the data, manage it better, and we will not be sifting through paper every time we need to do those reports and the good thing about it is that, with the six OECS countries we will be able to capture a better picture among the OECS countries in the region.

“So the way forward is to implement the system we will have one test site to start with, more than likely Castries Health Centre, and then after that we hope to spread the system into the rest of the wellness Centers that we have.”
Several Key stakeholders are benefiting from this training, some of whom include surveillance officers, pharmacists, and Health care workers from health centres, testing sites and labs. The system was designed and coordinated by Mildred Fakoya who was engaged by the OECS as consultant for the project. (MOH)