Application of Digital Technologies to Enhance Public Health Surveillance in Tanzania

Abstract

There is limited literature on the application of digital technology applications for disease surveillance in Tanzania. This chapter reviewed digital application technologies, existing challenges, and future perspectives in Tanzania. The data collection process involved searching for peer reviewed articles from databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed. Stakeholder consultation was also conducted through interviews of healthcare officials who were directly involved in disease surveillance process in Tanzania. Findings from this chapter showed that digital public health data in Tanzania is mainly collected through the HMIS monthly reports from IDSR. The main challenges affecting implementation of digital surveillance are poor internet, unreliable power supply, lack of integration between the existing and newly developed digital technologies, limited financial resources, and inadequate ICT personnel. The government of Tanzania should improve e-health apps funding and reporting of mobile health interventions for infectious diseases and NCDs using the WHO mERA checklist.