Roseau, Dominica, 6 August 2025 (PAHO) – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) provided technical support to Dominica with assessing the readiness of the Dominica China Friendship Hospital (DCFH) to fully implement the DHIS2-based Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) sentinel surveillance system.
The PAHO consultant met with key stakeholders from clinical, laboratory, infection control, health information, and administrative teams, together they discussed ways to chart the path forward for strengthening respiratory disease surveillance.
This mission is a critical step in enhancing Dominica’s capacity to detect, monitor, and respond to severe respiratory infections. By transitioning to a digital surveillance platform, health authorities will have more timely and accurate data to guide patient care, infection prevention measures, and national public health responses.
National Epidemiologist, Dr. Shalauddin Ahmed, spoke of the importance of access to timely data in public health response. “The DHIS2 system provides access to real time data for morbidity, mortality, syndromic surveillance among others. We look forward to the training of additional healthcare workers at the hospital level in the use of this platform. We are also grateful for the PAHO consultant’s visit during this mission, as she was able to rectify some technical issues with the database.”
The assessment confirmed that the hospital made important preparations, including procuring dedicated workstations and testing access to the DHIS2 platform. Nurse Joanna Laurent-Blaize, Infection Prevention and Control Officer at DCFH, expressed appreciation to various entities for the investment made thus far in making DHIS2 fully operational. “The desktops donated by PAHO for SARI surveillance are accessible to staff and the internet is readily available thanks to the Government of Dominica, the IT staff and the Board of Dominica Hospitals Authority.”
The mission concluded with a clear roadmap for next steps, which includes a structured training programme, and alignment with the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Social Services’ upcoming national health information system. These efforts will ensure SARI surveillance becomes a routine and sustainable component of healthcare delivery in Dominica. In 2021, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Social Services commenced the phased rollout of the DHIS2 system in Dominica with support from PAHO.
