Details:

Alternative Title:
Online J Public Health Inform
Personal Author:
Li, Wei
Conference Authors:
International Society for Disease Surveillance Conference (11th : 2012 Dec. 4-5 : San Diego, California)
Description:
Objective

To develop and implement a mobile-based disease surveillance system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for the 2009 Hajj; to strengthen public health preparedness for the H1N1 Influenza A pandemic.

Introduction

The Hajj is considered to be the largest mass gathering to date, attracting an estimated 2.5 million Muslims from more than 160 countries annually (1). The H1N1 Influenza A pandemic of 2009 generated a global wave of concern among public health departments that resulted in the institution of preventive measures to limit transmission of the disease. Meanwhile, the pandemic amplified an urgent need for more innovative disease surveillance tools to combat disease outbreaks.

Methods

We designed a case-based system consisting of a mobile-based data collection toolkit and interactive map-based user interface to perform geospatial analysis and visualization. A train-the-trainer approach was adapted to provide training to the KSA MOH.

Results

More than 200 public health and information and communication technology (ICT) professionals were trained, and 100 mobile devices were deployed during the 2009 Hajj. Nine diseases and conditions that were considered as highest priority during the Hajj were under surveillance, including H1N1 Influenza A and Influenza-like Illness.

Conclusions

Effective public health decision-making requires timely and accurate information from a variety of sources. Mobile-based systems (e.g., personal digital assistants and smartphones) for data collection, transmission, reporting, and analyses provide a faster, easier, and cheaper means to communicate standardized and shareable public health data for decision-making (3). Mobile-based systems have been recognized as a quick and effective response solution to mass gatherings and recommended as data gathering and communication systems with geographical information system (GIS) capability (2). This paper explored the development and implementation of the Global Positioning System/ Geographic Information System (GPS/GIS) enabled mobile-based disease surveillance system as a feasible and effective way to support and strengthen preparedness for H1N1 Influenza A during the 2009 Hajj.


Subjects:
[+]
GIS/GPS ISDS 2012 Conference Abstracts Mass Gatherings Mobile Technology Public Health Preparedness Surveillance System
Source:
Online J Public Health Inform. 2013; 5(1).
Document Type:
Journal Article
Place as Subject:
Saudi Arabia
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:ef6777a644081eb2f6045ca062085aea26312eec80f16b75a97a7ba9768a41e7
Download URL:
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/19113/cdc_19113_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

• 	license.txt	txt
  	ojphi-05-137.nxml	txt

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