Throwback: C(E)BS in Sierra Leone

The Red Cross has been using the community based (event) surveillance methodology as a means to detect public health risks of epidemic potential for several years. Community volunteers are in a key position to report when something is happening, and by collecting their insight we are enabling for early response to potential outbreaks.

During its international operations, the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies has tested many different types of software for data collection and analysis from community-based volunteers who report on health risks.

For instance, during the Ebola outbreak in 2015, 2000 community volunteers were trained to report immediately when someone was sick, allowing for a much quicker response and potential prevention of Ebola spreading.

However, the software which was used to collect the data from community volunteers came at a high cost and without any data analysis functionalities. A second software was therefore needed to analyse the incoming data, adding to the total cost of the software.

To meet the need for a low-cost and efficient software which can provide automatic data analysis and visualisation, the Norwegian Red Cross started building a specialised software, together with tech volunteers. Today, we have a functioning system which is being implemented in Somaliland and Senegal, with new functionalities and implementation in countries in 2019.

Want to see how the CEBS project in Sierra Leone worked? Take a look at the film below!