Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025383 (Oral 083) | Published: 11 Aug 2025
Virgil Kuassi Lokossou1, Victor Adeola Fatimehin2, Andrew Awori Sime1,&, Lionel Solété Sogbossi1, Aishat Usman1, Tome Ca1, Alpha Savane1, Damola Olajide1, Issiaka Sombie1, Felix Agbla1, Melchior Athanase Aïssi1
1West Africa Health Organization, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, 2ECOWAS-Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control, Abuja Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Andrew Awori Sime, West Africa Health Organization, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Email: andrewaworis@gmail.com
Received: 15 Apr 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 11 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Digital surveillance, Health Information System, data interoperability, outbreak management
©Virgil Kuassi Lokossou 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: Virgil Kuassi Lokossou et al., Enhancing digital disease surveillance in the ECOWAS Region: Progress, challenges, and way forward. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00083. https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph-confpro5-00083
Digitalizing disease surveillance improves case reporting and enables timely outbreak detection and response, enhancing health outcomes. However, adoption in Africa remains limited. This study assessed the integration of digital platforms into surveillance systems and explored health leaders’ perspectives across the ECOWAS region.
A cross-sectional study with a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design was conducted. Data collection involved a desk review (2015–2023 literature, reports, grey literature), an email-based survey, and expert consultations during a 3-day regional workshop. Survey participants were heads of surveillance, data policy, and health IT (SDH) units representing human and animal health sectors in all 15 ECOWAS Member States. Legal and technical experts also contributed.
Digital platform adoption was universal at the national level (100%) but only 50% at the community and lowest administrative levels, with variability across and within countries and sectors. Human health had full adoption (100%), while animal health adoption was lower (43%). DHIS2 was the most widely used platform. Human health reported higher single-platform use (73%, mostly DHIS2), compared to animal health (33%) using KoboToolbox (20%), DHIS2 (6%), and SISMAZ (7%). Key challenges included lack of interoperability and fragmented implementation. Survey and expert consensus supported establishing a harmonized data collection system and a regionally coordinated digital emergency response network, such as a regional Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Despite moderate adoption, digital surveillance systems in ECOWAS remain fragmented, particularly at lower administrative levels and in the animal health sector. To improve outbreak detection and response, ECOWAS must prioritize interoperable, integrated digital systems and establish a regional data exchange framework. Leveraging emerging technologies and standardizing platforms will be essential for building a resilient and responsive surveillance architecture.
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