Surveillance Division, Prevention Department, Government of Senegal Ministry of Health and Social Action, Dakar, Senegal.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dakar, Senegal
BMJ Glob Health. 2023 Jun;8(6). doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012300.
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid development and implementation of effective surveillance systems to detect and respond to the outbreak in Senegal. In this documentation, we describe the design and implementation of the Community Event-Based Surveillance (CEBS) system in Senegal to strengthen the existing Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system. The CEBS system used a hotline and toll-free number to collect and triage COVID-19-related calls from the community. Data from the CEBS system were integrated with the national system for further investigation and laboratory testing. From February to September 2020, a total of 10 760 calls were received by the CEBS system, with 10 751 calls related to COVID-19. The majority of calls came from the Dakar region, which was the epicentre of the outbreak in Senegal. Of the COVID-19 calls, 50.2% were validated and referred to health districts for further investigation, and 25% of validated calls were laboratory-confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2. The implementation of the CEBS system allowed for timely detection and response to potential COVID-19 cases, contributing to the overall surveillance efforts in the country. Lessons learned from this experience include the importance of decentralised CEBS, population sensitisation on hotlines and toll-free usage, and the potential role of Community Health Workers in triaging alerts that needs further analysis. This experience highlights the contribution of a CEBS system in Senegal and provides insights into the design and operation of such a system. The findings can inform other countries in strengthening their surveillance systems and response strategies.
COVID-19 大流行促使塞内加尔迅速开发和实施有效的监测系统，以发现和应对疫情。在本文件中，我们描述了塞内加尔社区事件监测（CEBS）系统的设计和实施情况，以加强现有的综合疾病监测和应对系统。CEBS 系统使用热线和免费电话号码收集和分类社区内与 COVID-19 相关的电话。CEBS 系统的数据与国家系统集成，以进行进一步调查和实验室检测。从 2020 年 2 月到 9 月，CEBS 系统共收到 10760 个电话，其中 10751 个与 COVID-19 有关。大多数电话来自塞内加尔疫情的中心——达喀尔地区。在 COVID-19 电话中，50.2%得到验证并转介到卫生区进行进一步调查，25%的验证电话是 SARS-CoV-2 的实验室确诊病例。CEBS 系统的实施使得能够及时发现和应对潜在的 COVID-19 病例，为该国的整体监测工作做出了贡献。从这次经验中吸取的教训包括分散的 CEBS 的重要性、对热线和免费电话使用的人口宣传，以及社区卫生工作者在分诊需要进一步分析的警报方面的潜在作用。这一经验突出了塞内加尔 CEBS 系统的贡献，并提供了有关设计和运行此类系统的见解。这些发现可以为其他国家加强监测系统和应对战略提供信息。
