ASSESSMENT OF THE HEALTH FACILITY-BASED SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM IN EARLY DETECTION OF MENINGITIS CASES IN THE WENCHI MUNICIPALITY OF THE BONO REGION

ABSTRACTBackground: Effective Health Facility-Based Surveillance System (HFSS) helps in the early detection of communicable diseases such as meningitis. The availability of resources required, various components of surveillance, effective data communication and the usefulness of the meningitis surveillance are some of the factors that ensure an effective Health Facility-based Surveillance System … See more

ABSTRACTBackground: Effective Health Facility-Based Surveillance System (HFSS) helps in the early detection of communicable diseases such as meningitis. The availability of resources required, various components of surveillance, effective data communication and the usefulness of the meningitis surveillance are some of the factors that ensure an effective Health Facility-based Surveillance System (HFSS). This study assessed the Health Facility-Based Surveillance System in early detection of meningitis cases in the Wenchi municipality of the Bono region.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Wenchi municipal where data was collected from all health facilities. A structured questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions was used to collect data from 250 health workers on data communication, availability of resources, components of the HFSS and usefulness of the HFSS. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 24 was used for data analysis. Descriptive analysis especially frequencies, proportions and cross tabulation. The data was presented in tables, and charts.Results: The overall level of data communication in the facilities was rate good (38%) by respondents. the availability of resources that are required for the health facility-based meningitis surveillance in most of the facilities being fairly well (57%) to operate but diagnostic tools were only available at the hospitals. The basic components needed for the health facility-based surveillance system to work were fully available and functional in the only two hospitals. The health facility-based meningitis surveillance was seen very important (60.8%) and the generated data was useful for decision making by majority (81.2%). Meningitis Surveillance is only effective in hospitals with resources and basic components of surveillance inadequate in the smaller health facilities.

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