{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T12:41:13Z","timestamp":1793104873007,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,30]],"date-time":"2024-05-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717027200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000030","name":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000030","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000030","name":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000030","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system was adopted by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2008, which was based on paper-based tools for health data recording and reporting from health facilities to the national level. The Sierra Leone MoH introduced the implementation of electronic case-based disease surveillance reporting of immediately notifiable diseases. This study aims to document and describe the experience of Sierra Leone in transforming her paper-based disease surveillance system into an electronic disease surveillance system. Retrospective mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative data were reviewed. Qualitative data were collected by reviewing surveillance technical reports, epidemiological bulletins, COVID-19, IDSR technical guidelines, Digital Health strategy and DHIS2 documentation. Content and thematic data analyses were performed for the qualitative data, while Microsoft Excel and DHIS2 platform were used for the quantitative data analysis to document the experience of Sierra Leone in digitalizing its disease surveillance system. In the early 2017, a web-based electronic Case-Based Disease Surveillance (eCBDS) for real-time reporting of immediately notifiable diseases and health threats was piloted using the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) software. The eCBDS integrates case profile, laboratory, and final outcome data. All captured data and information are immediately accessible to users with the required credentials. The system can be accessed via a browser or an Android DHIS2 application. By 2021, there was a significant increase in the proportion of immediately notifiable cases reported through the facility-level electronic platform, and more than 80% of the cases reported through the weekly surveillance platform had case-based data in eCBDS. Case-based data from the platform are analysed and disseminated to stakeholders for public health decision-making. Several outbreaks of Lassa fever, Measles, vaccine-derived Polio and Anthrax have been tracked in real-time through the eCBDS.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/heapol\/czae039","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,30]],"date-time":"2024-05-30T17:42:46Z","timestamp":1717090966000},"page":"85-96","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Digitalizing disease surveillance: experience from Sierra Leone"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"40","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-9964-5811","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Magoba","family":"Bridget","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surveillance, African Field Epidemiology Network , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gebrekrstos Negash","family":"Gebru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surveillance, African Field Epidemiology Network , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]},{"name":"Sierra Leone Field Epidemiology Training Program , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George S","family":"Odongo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Global Health Protection, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Calle","family":"Hedberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Information Systems Program , PostNet Suite, #47 Private Bag, X3 Beacon Bay, Pretoria,","place":["South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adel Hussein","family":"Elduma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surveillance, African Field Epidemiology Network , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph Sam","family":"Kanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Disease Surveillance Program, Ministry of Health , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]},{"name":"Department of Community Health, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"James","family":"Bangura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health and Development in Action (HEADA), 16 Lower Pipeline, off Wilkinson road , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"James Sylvester","family":"Squire","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Disease Surveillance Program, Ministry of Health , Freetown,","place":["Sierra Leone"]},{"name":"Department of Community Health, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone , Freetown,","place":["Sierra 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