Scoping Review of the Models for Case-Based Health Programs in Africa: Towards Case-Based Surveillance for HIV in Lesotho

TL;DR

This scoping review explores case-based surveillance models in African countries to help Lesotho establish an effective HIV surveillance system.

Contribution

The study identifies and evaluates case-based surveillance models from multiple African countries to guide Lesotho’s HIV program.

Findings

Electronic medical records systems are critical for effective case-based surveillance.

Lesotho should adopt data governance policies and infrastructure strategies from successful African models.

Case-based surveillance can improve disease tracking and health outcomes in low-income settings.

Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
The scoping review is highly relevant as it emphasizes on the importance of establishing a case-based surveillance system especially for infectious diseases such as HIV in a low-income setting like Lesotho where the disease has a potential to spread if not control through proper systems.Having a case-based surveillance (CBS) system will help track disease patterns and identify hot spots for immediate intervention and allocation of resources. Strengthening surveillance will not only help with disease management but also with prevention and overall population health.

The scoping review is highly relevant as it emphasizes on the importance of establishing a case-based surveillance system especially for infectious diseases such as HIV in a low-income setting like Lesotho where the disease has a potential to spread if not control through proper systems.

Having a case-based surveillance (CBS) system will help track disease patterns and identify hot spots for immediate intervention and allocation of resources. Strengthening surveillance will not only help with disease management but also with prevention and overall population health.

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
This study has a potential to transform Lesotho’s public health response by adopting and adapting proven models from other African countries.This study has the potential to ultimately strengthen Lesotho’s health system and provide a roadmap which can lead to sustainability.

This study has a potential to transform Lesotho’s public health response by adopting and adapting proven models from other African countries.

This study has the potential to ultimately strengthen Lesotho’s health system and provide a roadmap which can lead to sustainability.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
This study will help policy makers to ensure there are relevant data governance policies in place to ensure data security, confidentiality and privacy.Policy makers will prioritize the necessary steps to establish CBS such as having electronic medical records system, using open sources and using unique identifiers.

This study will help policy makers to ensure there are relevant data governance policies in place to ensure data security, confidentiality and privacy.

Policy makers will prioritize the necessary steps to establish CBS such as having electronic medical records system, using open sources and using unique identifiers.

The review aims at exploring models for case-base health programs across Africa that could best help Lesotho succeed in its efforts to establish a case-based surveillance (CBS) system for their HIV program. The review involves looking through several sources and databases including EBSCOHOST, Google Scholar, Science Direct and PubMed. The insights of suitable models were from the following Africa countries: South Africa, Kenya, Guinea, Tanzania, Ghana, Mozambique and Zambia. The study articles were published within the last 10 years, specifically from 2014 to 2024. This range was used as part of their inclusion criteria to ensure relevance of the articles. The studied models focused on infectious diseases such as measles, HIVand COVID-19. The key takeaway is that setting up electronic medical records systems (EMRs) is critical as a first step for any effective CBS. Using unique identifiers, establishing clear data governance policies and building strong infrastructure is a necessity in making CBS work. For a successful establishment of CBS, Lesotho should adopt these strategies that can be sustainable, improve disease tracking, response and ultimately health outcomes for Basotho.

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