A dashboard for monitoring preventive measures in response to COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo
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(2020) 48:74
Tropical Medicine and Health
RESEARCH
Open Access
A dashboard for monitoring preventive measures in response to COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo Patient Mijiriro Wimba1,2,3* , Jacques-Aimé Bazeboso4, Philippe Bianga Katchunga1,2, Léon Tshilolo4, Benjamin Longo-Mbenza4, Muriel Rabilloud3,5,6, Philippe Vanhems3,7,8, Jean Iwaz3,5,6, Jean-François Étard9,10 and René Écochard3,5,6
Abstract Background: In most health areas, an information system is necessary for an effective fight against COVID-19. Current methods for surveillance of diseases with epidemic potential do not include monitoring the adherence to preventive measures. Furthermore, modern data collection methods depend often on technologies (e.g., cameras or drones) that are hardly available in low-income countries. Simpler solutions could be just as effective. Methods: A dashboard was used over a whole week to monitor preventive measures in Bukavu (DRC) by mid-May 2020. It was designed to collect from street passers-by information on the adherence to barrier measures, the level of awareness of these measures, the opinion on their usefulness, and the health status of people in the households. Results: Creating a dashboard and collecting the necessary data proved feasible. The use of barrier measures was very limited and that of masks practically nil despite repeated recommendations from the health authorities. The end of each day was the worst moment due to clearly insufficient distancing. Barrier measures were significantly more used in areas where they were best known and most acknowledged. At the time of the study, there were few sick people and only rare severe cases were attributed to COVID-19. Conclusions: Creating COVID-19 situation dashboards in limited-resource metropoles is feasible. They give real-time access to data that help fight the epidemic. The findings of this pilot study call for a rapid community awareness actions to back national media-based prevention campaigns. Keywords: COVID-19, Dashboard, Low-income countries, Urban environment
Introduction On May 11, 2020, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had already recorded a little more than one thousand confirmed cases of COVID-19 [1]. Most of these cases were diagnosed in Kinshasa though cases were also identified in various * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Université Officielle de Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo 2 Cliniques Universitaires de Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
provinces, especially in South Kivu. Since then, the health authorities of DRC established national and provincial committees to contain the disease outbreak. To adapt their decisions to the epidemic spread, these committees have to be regularly informed about changes in the spread of the disease through the population and the degree to which the population adheres to preventive barrier measures. Most DRC provinces are used to deal with health crises
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