E-Surveillance for Investigating Capacity of Health Systems to Detect and Control Infectious Diseases of Poverty: A Case of Kitui South Sub-County

This research aimed to establish the capacity of the Kitui County Health System to deal with infectious diseases of poverty including epidemics. This region is considered arid and semi-arid and registers poverty levels of approximately 40%. These factors contribute to a high burden of diseases of poverty hence the need to investigate the capacity of the county health systems to detect and subsequently control infectious diseases. The study site was Kitui South sub-county and the medical facilities located in this region were visited and Key Informant Interviews (KII) conducted on medical personnel and observation was used to collect data. A web based surveillance system was created to capture the collected data. The data was then analysed and reports generated which included the infectious diseases ravaging the residents of Kitui South sub-county e.g. intestinal worms, amoebiasis, and dysentery. In addition, we also noted that the medical facilities in Kitui South have limited staffing including laboratory technicians required for laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases. Finally, it was evident that the facilities lacked relevant diagnostic equipment and where available, frequent power outages hindered the process. The findings of this study were then packaged in a web based surveillance system, which can be accessed by stakeholders in the health sector for informed decision making. This will assist the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the County Government of Kitui in providing quality health services to the citizens and achieve the goals of universal health care, which is one of the social pillars of Kenya Vision 2030. It will also promote a centralized monitoring and surveillance of these facilities.