Level of Community Health Worker’s Involvement in Yellow Fever Surveillance in the North West Region of Cameroon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51699/ijhsms.v3i5.143Keywords:
Community Health Worker, Health Personnel, Yellow fever Surveillance, North West Region, CameroonAbstract
Yellow fever surveillance is essential for early outbreak detection and timely interventions. Community health workers (CHWs) are critical to this effort, yet their participation remains underexplored in the North West Region of Cameroon. This study aimed to assess the involvement of CHWs in yellow fever surveillance from 2021 to 2024, focusing on health districts in the region. Data from surveillance reports, notification forms, and interviews with health personnel (HPs) and CHWs were analyzed using descriptive statistics and geographic mapping. Of 427 suspected yellow fever cases, 419 were reported by HPs and only 8 by CHWs, indicating a 2% community involvement rate. These findings highlight an underutilization of CHWs in surveillance efforts, underscoring the need for better integration, training, and support to enhance community-level disease monitoring. Strengthening CHW participation could improve the effectiveness of yellow fever surveillance and outbreak response in the region.
References
E. D. Barnett, "Yellow Fever: Epidemiology and Prevention," Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 850-856, 2007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/511869
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems," CDC MMWR, vol. 50, no. RR-13, pp. 1-35, Jul. 27, 2001.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Yellow Fever," Global Health, Sep. 14, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://archive.cdc.gov/#/details?url=https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/newsroom/topics/yellowfever/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Older Stories on Global Immunization," CDC, Nov. 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/immunization/stories/archive/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Rotary's PolioPlus Program: Lessons Learned, Transition Planning, and Legacy," CDC, Nov. 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/immunization/stories/archive/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR)," Global Health Protection and Security, n.d. [Online]. Available: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/idsr/index.html
J. Charan and T. Biswas, "How to Calculate Sample Size for Different Study Designs," Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 121-126, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.116232
R. G. Cliffe, "Public Health Surveillance," in Public Health Intelligence, R. G. Cliffe, Ed. London: Academic Press, 2016, pp. 91-110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28326-5_5
M. F. Cwik et al., "Community-Based Surveillance and Case Management for Suicide Prevention: An American Indian Tribally Initiated System," American Journal of Public Health, vol. 104, no. S3, pp. e18-e23, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.301872
N. Nxumalo, J. Goudge, and L. Manderson, "Community Health Workers, Recipients' Experiences and Constraints to Care in South Africa: A Pathway to Trust," AIDS Care, vol. 28, no. S4, pp. 61-71, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2016.1195484
WHO Global Technical Meeting, "A Definition for Community-Based Surveillance and a Way Forward: Results of the WHO Global Technical Meeting, France, 26 to 28 June 2018," Eurosurveillance, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 1-5, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.2.1800681
T. Padayachee, N. Chetty, M. Muzi, and H. Schneider, "Progress in the Establishment of Ward-Based Outreach Teams: Experiences in the North West Province," South African Health Review, vol. 7, pp. 73-80, 2014.
Y. Pillay and P. Barron, "The Implementation of PHC Re-Engineering in South Africa," South African Health Review, 2011. [Online]. Available: https://www.hst.org.za/publications/South%20African%20Health%20Reviews/1_SHR_2011.pdf
A. Metuge, L. A. Omam, and E. Jarman, "Humanitarian Led Community-Based Surveillance: A Case Study in Ekondo-Titi, Cameroon," Conflict and Health, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1-8, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-021-00354-9
MINSANTE, Cameroon, "Comprehensive Multi-Year Plan (cMYP) 2015-2019," Ministry of Health Cameroon (MINSANTE), Dec. 2014. [Online]. Available: https://extranet.who.int/countryplanningcycles/sites/default/files/planning_cycle_repository/cameroon/cameroon_cmyp_2015-2019.pdf
M. M. van den MMVX et al., "Experiences and Lessons from Polio Eradication Applied to Immunization in 10 Focus Countries of the Polio Endgame Strategic Plan," The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 216, no. S1, pp. S162-S170, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiw567
R. K. Phalkey, S. Yamamoto, P. Awate, and M. Marx, "Challenges with the Implementation of an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) System: A Systematic Review of the Lessons Learned," Health Policy Plan., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 131-143, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czt097
Quora, "What is the Social Mobilization Theory?" Quora, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-social-mobilization-theory
National Health Systems Resource Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, "National Health Systems Resource Centre," 2020. [Online]. Available: https://nhsrcindia.org
L. Rawal, S. Jubayer, S. R. Choudhury et al., "Community Health Workers for Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study," BMC Public Health, vol. 20, pp. 1-12, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-49718/v2
M. Tetuh et al., "Engaging Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) for Cardiovascular Diseases Risk Screening in Nepal," Journal of Global Health, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 45-52, 2023.
N. Mubin, R. Bin Abdul Baten, S. Jahan et al., "Cancer Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Among Community Health Care Providers and Health Assistants in Rural Bangladesh," Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1057-1062, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06202-z
V. Rachas et al., "Timeliness of Yellow Fever Vaccination in Central African Countries," Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 746-754, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2006.130671
M. M. Ramukumba, "Exploration of Community Health Workers' Views About Their Role and Support in Primary Health Care in Northern Cape, South Africa," Journal of Community Health, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 123-132, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-019-00711-z
R. K. Ranjay, Z. Yuke, G. Oliver et al., "Visual Genome: Connecting Language and Vision Using Crowdsourced Dense Annotations," International Journal of Computer Vision, vol. 123, pp. 32-45, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11263-016-0981-7
K. M. Tetuh et al., "Evaluating Event-Based Surveillance Capacity in Africa: Use of the Africa CDC Surveillance System," Preventive Medicine Reports, vol. 10, pp. 1-10, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4442856
