Evaluation of surveillance system for pneumonia in children below five years, tema metropolis, Ghana, 2012-2016

Dora Dadzie, Adolphina A. Addo-Lartey, Nana Y. Peprah, Ernest Kenu

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: We evaluated the pneumonia surveillance system in Tema Metropolis to determine whether it is meeting its objectives and to assess its attributes. Design: Descriptive primary and secondary data analysis Data Source: We interviewed health staff on the system's operation and resources. We also extracted 2012-2016 surveillance dataset for under-five pneumonia cases and deaths from the District Health Information Management System for review. Participants: Health staff Intervention: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems was used to assess system attributes. Main outcome measure: State of the pneumonia surveillance system in Tema Results: A suspected case was defined as fast breathing in any child < 5 years old. The case definition was easy to apply, even at the community level. From 2012 to 2016, a total of 3,337 cases and 54 deaths (case fatality rate 1.6%) was recorded from 13 (23.6%) of 55 health facilities. Two epidemics were missed by the district because data were not being analysed. There were no laboratory data on antimicrobial resistance. Although reporting timeliness increased from 28.1% in 2012 to 83% in 2016, data inconsistencies existed between reporting levels. Conclusion: The surveillance system for under-five pneumonia in Tema Metropolis is simple, stable, flexible, timely, but of low sensitivity and acceptability, and only partly meeting its objectives. Major shortcomings are lack of laboratory data, non-use of data and low representativeness.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11-17
Number of pages7
JournalGhana Medical Journal
Volume54
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2020

Keywords

  • Ghana
  • Surveillance system evaluation
  • Tema
  • Under-five pneumonia

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