Strengthening Health Information Surveillance: Implementing Community-Based Surveillance in Sudan

Abstract

This case study explores the 2018–22 implementation of a national community-based surveillance (CBS) programme in Sudan. The programme was designed to meet critical needs of the existing health surveillance system. It aimed to empower communities to detect and contain public health threats, improve relations between communities and their local health system, and involve villages in rural areas. Federal, state, and locality (district) staff attended CBS workshops before recruiting and training community volunteers. Over 8,000 volunteers across 11 states were recruited. The volunteers alerted staff to priority syndromes for communicable diseases as well as local events with public health implications (e.g., natural disasters, conflict-induced displacement, food insecurity). Lessons learnt can be used to increase understanding of large-scale CBS programmes and to identify opportunities to strengthen new and existing programmes. For more social science guidance on CBS, see our companion: Key Considerations: Community-Based Surveillance in Public Health.