Submitted
Health Security & Pandemics Challenge

IDAC 1.0 Disease Surveillance System

Team Leader
Chima Amadi
Solution Overview
Solution Name:
IDAC 1.0 Disease Surveillance System
One-line solution summary:
My solution strengthens the disease surveillance system in developing countries by leveraging on the USSD-Short Code System.
Pitch your solution.

 My solution is an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)-Short Code surveillance system that equips local health practitioners to report confirmed COVID-19 cases and other future outbreaks/ pandemics in real time to the national Centre for Disease Controls of different countries (especially developing countries) and to World Health Organization (W.H.O.). My solution is well suited for the African continent where there is insufficient internet access because it functions without internet (works in any kind of mobile phone). My solution will ensure access to a coordinated and real time data on the incidence of infectious diseases that will help various health organizations in various countries to respond appropriately. Furthermore, it will enable the W.H.O to enhance their public health surveillance capabilities in developing countries like Africa which posed great difficulty during the peak of the COVID-19 cases in 2020.  

Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?

The major challenge in the handling of disease outbreaks/pandemics in Africa is the lack of a coordinated public health surveillance system that adequately takes into consideration the unique challenges of Africa (e.g. poor internet access, low educational status, poverty and high population residing in rural areas). These challenges have led to a lot of inaccuracy, inconsistency, and incoherence in monitoring the incidence and prevalence of diseases by relevant public/global health organizations like the W.H.O and Centres for Disease Control in different African countries. In addition, it will lead to a poor and uncoordinated global health response to the disease and lack of real will result increased mortality and morbidity from the disease. During the pandemic, the United Nations report of 2020 stated that up to 50% of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa were undocumented and not reported due to the poor surveillance in the continent. Furthermore, the W.H.O. report of 2020 expressed difficulty in conducting a comprehensive public health surveillance of COVID-19 due to inability of their surveillance tools to address the peculiar challenges.

What is your solution?

My solution is an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)-Short Code surveillance system that equips local health practitioners to report confirmed COVID-19 cases or other disease outbreaks and other future outbreaks/ pandemics in real time to the national Centre for Disease Controls of different countries (especially developing countries) and to World Health Organization (W.H.O.) with the aid of a mobile phone (works in smart and non-smart phones without internet). Through my solution, health care practitioners in primary health centres can send information about every positive COVID-19 cases or other diseases (e.g. Ebola or yellow fever) using designated USSD codes (e.g. *556*2#) once the test is confirmed. This information is fed into a database (secured in a cloud-based system) in real time and can be accessed by the World Health Organization and the ministries of health of countries where the data is coming from. Through this medium, adequate surveillance and monitoring of disease outbreaks are done for effective and coordinated response to the disease. Currently, the pilot phase of my solution is being implemented in Nigeria but it is scalable to link data from other countries to a central database moderated by the World Health Organization.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

My solution mostly impacts the lives of residents of rural and sub-urban regions of Africa predominantly characterised by poor internet access, poor health care infrastructure, insufficient health workforce and poor road networks. Furthermore, these challenges make this target population more susceptible to the fatalities of disease outbreaks/pandemics such as COVID-19 resulting in high mortality, high morbidity, and poor public health response. Through my solution, cases in these regions will be reported in real time irrespective of the challenges mentioned above and will enable the public health authorities to effectively monitor and record the cases and provide adequate response to the disease outbreak. The motivation behind my solution rose from the frequent complaints by health care providers in rural regions and centres for disease control concerning poor surveillance of disease outbreaks in these regions. Also, the pilot testing of my solution was done in rural areas of Nigeria to ensure that it effectively addresses the needs of the people in the region especially as it concerns health security.  

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
  • Strengthen disease surveillance, early warning predictive systems, and other data systems to detect, slow, or halt future disease outbreaks.
Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

My solution aligns with one of the focal points of the Challenge which is to strengthen disease surveillance especially in developing regions like Africa. My solution enables health care providers especially those in rural and sub urban regions to effectively report cases of disease outbreaks in real time despite the socioeconomic challenges faced in those regions. Additionally, through this solution, Ministries of Health (Centres of Disease Control) in various countries and the World health Organization will be adequately strengthened to respond to disease outbreaks more effectively.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Abuja, Nigeria
What is your solution’s stage of development?
  • Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community.
Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

My solution is currently in the pilot stage having developed a product that has been tested by over 100 health practitioners in primary health centres within the rural and sub urban regions of North Central Nigeria (Nassarawa and Niger States). After the testing, feedbacks from the health care practitioners were considered and utilised to fine-tune my solution for better effectiveness. Furthermore, my team and I have held meetings with the World Health Organization (W.H.O), African Region regarding the adoption and implementation of my solution in various countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the W.H.O is working with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control to integrate my solution into their already existing data surveillance system to strengthen it.  

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Chima Amadi, CEO- Clemac Digital Health
More About Your Solution
About Your Team
Your Business Model & Partnerships
Partnership & Prize Funding Opportunities
Solution Team:
Chima Amadi
Chima Amadi