Title : Evaluation of vaccine preventable disease VPD surveillance system in Haryana state, India.
Abstract:
Background: Case based surveillance is effective in preventing and controlling the incidence of infectious disease. VPD surveillance was first launched in Haryana state of India in 2014. We evaluated the system to identify its strengths and gaps.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Haryana state. We used the Centre for Disease Control updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems. A structured questionnaire was designed to estimate simplicity, flexibility, acceptability and stability. Total sample size was 22 surveillance staff in district , community, primary health centres and private reporting units. VPD forms and data was analysed to evaluate completeness, data quality, predictive positive value, sensitivity and representativeness. Field visit to districts were carried out to assess data flow and timeliness.
Results: Median days for reporting a case from date of onset were 6.5 days. Median days for report generation from date of receiving sample were 8 days. VPD surveillance system simplicity was 100%. The mean completeness of selected variables was 68%. System was acceptable to 73% of health personnel. Surveillance system was flexible as the system platform has responded well to inclusion of new diseases at a later stage. The system was representative of primary, secondary, tertiary and private healthcare system of the state. The sensitivity of system was 30%. Positive predictive value of system was below par as none of the case reported were positive. Stability of the system was at 100% with data backup.
Conclusion: We conclude that the surveillance system was simple, flexible and acceptable. Timeliness, simplicity, data quality, representativeness and stability were satisfactory while sensitivity and predictive value positive need improvement. We recommend refresher training for private practitioners for VPD surveillance to improve the sensitivity and predictive value positive of the surveillance system.
Key words: Surveillance evaluation,Vaccine preventable diseases, IDSP.
