Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025412 (Poster 019) | Published: 29 Jul 2025
Theophile Houessou1,&, Giovanna Di Marzo1
1University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
&Corresponding author: Theophile Houessou, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, Email: theophile.houessou@etu.unige.ch
Received: 25 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 29 Jul 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Digital Health
Keywords: ECOWAS, Lassa Fever, Digital Health, Data Cooperatives, Epidemic Preparedness, Surveillance, Data Sharing, West Africa
©Theophile Houessou 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: Theophile Houessou et al A distributed cooperative-based digital health architecture for secure cross-border data sharing and epidemic preparedness in ECOWAS: Research proposal. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00163. https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph-confpro5-00163
West Africa faces challenges in controlling Lassa Fever and other viral hemorrhagic fevers due to fragmented health information systems and limited cross-border data sharing. The absence of a unified digital health infrastructure in ECOWAS undermines disease surveillance and emergency response. This research aims to establish a distributed digital health system, leveraging data cooperatives to enable secure cross-border surveillance and epidemic preparedness.
This multi-country, mixed-methods study begins with stakeholder interviews, surveys, and analysis of digital health systems in clinics using electronic medical records. Insights from this phase will guide the design and prototyping of a distributed data management architecture based on cooperatives, modeled with BPMN and integrating privacy technologies, interoperability standards, and offline functionality.
Preliminary findings identify ongoing barriers to data interoperability, privacy, and trust in cross-border health data sharing. The proposed system is designed to enable secure, ethical, and user-controlled exchange across ECOWAS, supporting real-time, anonymized data for surveillance and research, while supporting digital health and telemedicine initiatives.
A distributed digital health architecture built on data cooperatives has the potential to bridge gaps in data sharing and epidemics preparedness. This approach aims to enhance regional coordination, empower individuals and health systems, and support the future adoption of improved epidemic surveillance and control by ECOWAS and partner organizations.
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