Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract 0006 (ConfProc7) | Published: 24 Mar 2026
Blessing Enorioware Uteh1,&, Anthony Baffour Appiah1,2, Binta Bah1, Charles Noora Lwanga1, Chrysantus Kubio3, Joseph Yaw Jerela3, Matthew Ayamba Adam3, Amatus Nambagyira3, Delia Bandoh1, Kareem Yesiru1, Donne Ameme1, Samuel Sackey1, Ernest Kenu1
1Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (GFELTP), Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, 2Injury Epidemiology & Prevention Unit, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany, 3 Ghana Health Service, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Blessing Enorioware Uteh; Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, Email: utehb@yahoo.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1934-1206
Received: 28 Jun 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 24 Mar 2026
Domain: Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology
This is part of the Proceedings of the 8th Ghana FELTP Scientific Conference and FELTP Competency Graduation, Accra, Ghana, 10 – 11 December, 2025
Keywords: Depression, Surveillance System, Ghana
©Blessing Enorioware Uteh et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Blessing Enorioware Uteh et al. Evaluation of depression surveillance system, Adaklu District, Volta Region, Ghana, 2025. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):0006. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0006
Depression is a leading cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide and in Ghana. Effective surveillance systems are essential for monitoring disease trends, targeted interventions, and informing policies. In Ghana, the mental health surveillance system captures multiple conditions, including depression, but its performance in Adaklu district remains underexplored. This evaluation assessed the system’s achievement of its objectives, attributes, and capacity for timely public health action.
From March 17 to April 25, 2025, the Adaklu Depression surveillance system was evaluated by adapting the updated CDC guidelines. Data were drawn from five years (2020–2024) of District Health Information Management System-2 (DHIMS-2) records, facility registers, stakeholder interviews with 12 providers across eight facilities, and direct observations. The system’s two performance indicators (monitoring trends and medication adherence), seven attributes, and usefulness were assessed. Quantitative data were summarised as percentages, and thematic analysis was used for interviews.
Depression data were collected alongside 21 other mental health conditions. The system monitored trends and medication adherence, but analyses were inconsistently conducted. Reporting timeliness was 100%, and 66.7% of reviewed forms were complete. Cases were aggregated by sex and age groups across all sub-districts. The system was easily adaptable, though not incorporated into the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system. It was entirely government-funded, and 25% (2/8) of facilities experienced system disruption exceeding a month in 2024. The case definition was simple but inconsistently applied, and limited patient-level data were collected. Overall, surveillance data informed some public health actions.
The Adaklu’s depression surveillance system was passive and partly met its objectives. While timeliness, representativeness, flexibility, and simplicity were satisfactory, acceptability, stability and data quality required improvement. Strengthening case detection, clarifying system objectives, enhancing reporting practices, and integrating the system into the IDSR framework would improve its effectiveness
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