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Hamilton College

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Program Name

Kenya: Global Health and Human Rights

Abstract

Surveillance is an important tool in monitoring and evaluating infectious disease patterns and trends. Surveillance is vital because it aids public health officials and medical professionals in creating better prevention methods and efficiently managing outbreaks. Kenya is home to many noncommunicable diseases making it an important location to conduct disease surveillance. Within Kenya, each county has its own surveillance unit which tracks and controls outbreaks. In addition, government run surveillance systems were established to determine disease burden, incidence, and patterns in specific at-risk communities around Kenya. One of these major surveillance systems is Population-Based Infectious Disease Surveillance (PBIDS) which has been following the communities in Asembo, Siaya, and Kibera informal settlement, Nairobi since 2005.

My research question was: What methods are employed in the surveillance of infectious diseases in Kenya? My attachment involved a mixed method approach where I learned about quantitative and qualitative methods for surveillance. I was able to successfully answer my research question by gaining an understanding of surveillance data collection methods used in Kenya at the facility, sub-county, and county levels, calculating crude incidence and adjusted incidence rates, determining the limitations and strengths of the methods used during surveillance, and understanding the impacts surveillance data has on health policy decisions.

I was attached to PBIDS to learn how their surveillance system is organized and what type of data they collect. I visited St Elizabeth Lwak Mission Health Centre and visited multiple villages within Asembo to learn about the PBIDS platform. Additionally, I worked with the lab and data analysis team to learn how data is collected from the field and eventually published. Further, I attached with Samuel Osure, from the sub-county surveillance department, to learn how surveillance works at the county, sub-county, and facility levels. Here I learned how wastewater samples are collected and what active case search is. By attaching with these surveillance programs, I was able to meet my objectives and gain an in-depth understanding of how surveillance in Kenya is conducted, the limitations to surveillance, and the effects surveillance has on implementing new health interventions.

Disciplines

African Studies | Data Science | Diseases | Health Policy | Public Health | Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies

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