Infectious diseases represent a significant burden on the population in Kenya. The Ministry of Health has identified infectious diseases (mainly malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases) as the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the population. These diseases are preventable through immunization, management of the living and environmental environment (access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, state of pollution and food safety) and through the surveillance system for the occurrence of infectious diseases.
Lecture - analysis of reported data, photo: Zuzana Kráľová
During July and August 2016, assistant professors Dr. Denisa Jakubcová, Dr. Zuzana Kráľová and Dr. Michal Rafajdus from the Faculty of Health and Social Work, University of Trnava in Trnava implemented an educational and development project called Implementation of training activities with the aim of improving the collection, analysis and interpretation of data on the incidence of infectious diseases in the Matuga region on the Kenyan coast near the second largest city, Mombasa. The project and the training activities themselves were compiled on the basis of a pilot with the aim of finding out the current level of knowledge of health workers about reporting infectious diseases, about recognizing the epidemic status of individual infectious disease diagnoses and the possibilities of suppressing the epidemic. In this way, knowledge and needs for educational training were monitored in all 21 health facilities of the Matuga region. Healthcare and community workers do not have access to and opportunities to receive any training focused on surveillance. Therefore, the need for training was expressed by health workers from all facilities in the Matuga region. Workers need training focused on computer skills, an understanding of the general principle of surveillance for population health, the process of reporting and entering data using reporting forms, and applying standard definitions of infectious disease cases.
Practice of working with a tablet, photo: Zuzana Kráľová
The goal of the project was to increase the knowledge and skills of workers in reporting infectious diseases, to provide each health center in the region with tablets as a reporting tool, and to monitor the epidemiological situation of infectious diseases in the required time and quality. The training for healthcare workers consisted of two main parts - a lecture section and a section for working with a tablet. In the lecture section, the participants learned to define priority diseases and conditions determining the health of the population, standard definitions of infectious disease cases and, in particular, how to recognize, report and deal with an epidemic situation. In order to unify the reporting system in the region, Slovak lecturers prepared and implemented a new and fast system in the form of a simple table editor. During the session of working with the tablet, the medical staff acquired knowledge and skills for reporting in this way, and through practical exercises they learned how to analyze the reported data through epidemiological indicators (person, place, time, morbidity, mortality and mortality). Through lectures and model situations, community health workers learned the list of priority diagnoses of infectious diseases, their standard definitions, how to report, how to proceed in the event of an epidemic situation and how to work with the community.
Currently, both partner parties use the new method of reporting - the Kenyan side for monitoring the epidemiological situation and reporting data to international structures, and the Slovak side for monitoring the success of the training. The next step is to discuss the possibilities of future cooperation and the introduction of reporting for other regions.
Author: Denisa Jakubcová
Joint photo of healthcare workers after completing the training, photo: Michal Rafajdus