PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS REGARDING DISEASE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM, COMMUNICATED BY HEALTH CARE WORKERS OF DISTRICT SWAT KHYBER PUKHTOONKHWA
BACKGROUND: The Disease Early Warning System (DEWS), implemented by the World HealthOrganization (WHO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Health, is themain national surveillance system to detect and respond to infectious disease epidemics in Pakistan. TheDEWS was initially implemented in response to natural disaster and displacement emergencies inPakistan, most notably the 2010 floods. However, the system has now expanded to cover about 107million people of Pakistan's population. Its approaches for outbreak detection include immediate alertreporting and weekly data collection from about 2800 health facilities.OBJECTIVE: To find out what problems and suggestions do the trained Health Care Workerscommunicate regarding Disease Early Warning System.MATERIAL & METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on sixty nine Health CareWorkers trained on Disease Early Warning System, from twenty nine randomly selected Basic HealthUnits and Civil Dispensaries in District Swat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Astructured interviewer administered questionnaire was used. Within each selected Health Care Facility,we aimed to interview the medical officer or technician in charge who is the designated focal point forDEWS or surveillance/outbreak control activities. At each Health Care Facility all respondents (if morethan one) were interviewed simultaneously in a focus group discussion.RESULTS: 47(68.1%) of the respondents communicated no problem, frequently mentioned barriers tohealth facility were communication problems 9(13.1%), shortage of mane power 4 (5.8%), Irrelevantissues 4(5.8%), Plotting watch chart 1(1.4), DEWS & DHIS forms 1( 1.4), English language 1( 1.4%) andno response 1( 1.4%)CONCLUSION: Improved means of communication needs to be introduced. Performance basedawards in the form of appreciation certificate may be considered. Refresher and on job trainings areneeded.KEY WORDS: Surveillance, Health Care Worker, Pakistan.