Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb;16(1):333-340.
doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.361. Epub 2020 Oct 2.

Optimizing Pandemic Preparedness and Response Through Health Information Systems: Lessons Learned From Ebola to COVID-19

Arush Lal  1   2 , Henry C Ashworth  3 , Sara Dada  4 , Laura Hoemeke  5 , Ernest Tambo  6   7
Affiliations

Optimizing Pandemic Preparedness and Response Through Health Information Systems: Lessons Learned From Ebola to COVID-19

Arush Lal et al. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Strengthening health systems and maintaining essential service delivery during health emergencies response is critical for early detection and diagnosis, prompt treatment, and effective control of pandemics, including the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Health information systems (HIS) developed during recent Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provided opportunities to collect, analyze, and distribute data to inform both day-to-day and long-term policy decisions on outbreak preparedness. As COVID-19 continues to sweep across the globe, HIS and related technological advancements remain vital for effective and sustained data sharing, contact tracing, mapping and monitoring, community risk sensitization and engagement, preventive education, and timely preparedness and response activities. In reviewing literature of how HIS could have further supported mitigation of these Ebola outbreaks and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 3 key areas were identified: governance and coordination, health systems infrastructure and resources, and community engagement. In this concept study, we outline scalable HIS lessons from recent Ebola outbreaks and early COVID-19 responses along these 3 domains, synthesizing recommendations to offer clear, evidence-based approaches on how to leverage HIS to strengthen the current pandemic response and foster community health systems resilience moving forward.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ebola; health information systems; health systems strengthening; outbreak response; pandemic; preparedness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Hotchkiss DR, Diana ML, Foreit KG. How can routine health information systems improve health systems functioning in low- and middle-income countries? Assessing the evidence base. Adv Health Care Manag. 2012;12:25-58. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Toolkit on monitoring health systems strengthening. June 2008. https://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/toolkit_hss/EN_PDF_Toolkit_HSS.... Accessed October 15, 2020.
    1. AbouZahr C, Boerma T. Health information systems: the foundations of public health. Bull World Health Organ. 2005;83(8):578-583. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tambo E, Ugwu EC, Ngogang JY. Need of surveillance response systems to combat Ebola outbreaks and other emerging infectious diseases in African countries. Infect Dis Poverty. 2014;3:29. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stolka KB, Ngoyi BF, Grimes KE, et al. Assessing the surveillance system for priority zoonotic diseases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2017. Health Secur. 2018;16(S1):S-44-S-53. - PubMed

MeSH terms