Integrating technology and data in public health disease surveillance in Africa: case study of the AVADAR program (Preprint)
BACKGROUND Sub-saharan Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the last frontiers with the prevalence of wild poliovirus (WPV). Following joint efforts and partnerships some of which were instituted in the last 20 years, Africa was declared free of WPV in August 2020. While efforts now focus on eliminating circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV), it is important to review some of the interventions that resulted in a polio-free certification for the continent. OBJECTIVE The Auto-visual AFP detection and response (AVADAR) program was one of such interventions. AVADAR helped with a more focused, technology and data driven campaign, to ensure that surveillance was broad, inclusive, and responsive. With the infusion of mobile health technology, the project became a success as it reported, investigated and confirmed more cases of AFP compared to the existing traditional surveillance systems. This study attempts a review of the AVADAR intervention with a view to understand the role played by technology and data. METHODS This study comparatively reviewed the data generated over a three year period, across nine countries where the AVADAR project was implemented. It sought to understand how AVADAR was an improvement over traditional surveillance systems. RESULTS The AVADAR program confirmed more reported AFP cases, when compared with the traditional (paper-based) system. It was found that more true AFP cases were found through the AVADAR system. AVADAR accounted for 76% of cases reported across eight countries. CONCLUSIONS Evidently, data and technology - in this case - the AVADAR tool, addressed most of the challenges of Public Health Surveillance in the target countries. The challenge of erratic surveillance data gathering, and feedback was reduced as the AVADAR program demonstrated coordinated data gathering, active case search, timely response to alerts, and ultimately, improved confirmation of true cases. It contributes lessons that could be useful in enhancing surveillance systems across the developing world particularly in Africa.