KIA gets electronic disease surveillance equipment
Baobab Health Trust, a non-profit making organsation has successfully fitted electronic integrated disease surveillance and Response equipment to facilitate real time reporting of diseases.
The equipment that was in use in the old terminal was procured with support from the World Bank and is used to screen all passengers arriving in the country.
The equipment (non-human contact thermometers) detects all forms of notifiable disease cases including Ebola which has been putting countries on guard of travellers.
Among others, the equipment is used for screening and reporting fever cases at the airports and other cross-border infectious disease conditions.
Baobab Health Trust media and communications officer Mathews Malata said the institution is committed to working with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in providing various technological solutions to address several health care challenges in this country.
He said: “We are happy to have successfully relocated the electronic equipment from the old airport terminal building to the new one. The process went well and the equipment is functioning well. We need to be alert at all times which translate to ensuring the equipment is functioning well all the time.
“We are also working with 297 communities using mobile application technologies which we are supporting to ensure they report whatever disease they may note to the ministry of health for action”.
According to Malata, the trust is also working in 193 health facilities across the country providing advanced health care technologies.
MoH spokesperson Joshua Malango said the equipment has helped government to detect some of the disease infections in the country’s borders, two airports and 59 centres including district hospitals.
Said Malango: “One of the serious diseases that is causing headache among nations is Ebola especially for travellers. So the equipment is helping us to screen such infections to ensure the nation is safe from any danger of infection. Once it detects infections the machine issues the report to the central health unit for urgent management.”
The Trust works in collaboration with government to improve health care through the development, deployment and support of Electronic Medical Record Systems in the country’s health facilities.
