Digitalizing a public-private systems approach for combatting COVID-19 in Kisumu, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Introduction/ Background: May 2021, Kisumu County was affected by a COVID- 19 Delta variant outbreak. For non-resilient health systems with data channels based on paper, such outbreaks are a major challenge. A public-private partnership was initiated in Kisumu, Kenya. This partnership emphasizes digital mobile solutions that have a high potential for scalability. Methods: The partnership was between Kisumu County, KEMRI, PharmAccess, and healthcare facilities to roll out the implementation research. All those accessing tests as per the case definition of the MoH case definition were eligible for inclusion. We digitalized the Ministry of Health COVID-19 Case Identification Form, gathered data in healthcare facilities on digital tools, and shared aggregated results via a co-created (semi-) live dashboard to all relevant stakeholders. We performed descriptive analyses on the data. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders on the experiences of the project will provide qualitative insights. Results: As of November 2021, 32 healthcare facilities are connected to the dashboard, over 23,000 COVID-19 tests have been done with more than 2,800 positive cases 52% Delta variant, 45% Alpha variant, and 4% Beta variant. All key staff are connected to the digital tools and actively use them for decision-making. Geomapping of cases has shown to be useful for disease surveillance, especially case-tracking. Proper training and technical support for the digital tools and dashboard, co-creation with all users, and having a strong roll-out plan are key for success. Impact Public-private partnerships offer the possibility of scaling up diagnostic capacity and using technology to track the epidemic in real-time guiding efficient allocation of limited resources in an evidence-based manner, a good step towards epidemic preparedness. Better decision making and targeted action can be taken because of this digitalized systems approach. Conclusion: Digital platforms have a key role to play in epidemics tracking and preparedness. From these outcomes, the digital platform we developed during this study is being scaled up to 14 more counties of Kenya to be used to track the epidemic in a population of over 15 million people.