Kigoma, 9 June 2015 –Tanzania’s cholera outbreak has prompted not just a large-scale health response to treat thousands of people, but also a scaling up of dis

Last week, 25 participants from districts across western Tanzania’s Kigoma region were trained on showing others to strengthen systems to detect and respond to outbreaks in the area, which has been at the centre of the recent cholera outbreak linked to Burundians refugees fleeing into this country.

This cascade training, which will eventually involve all health care workers deployed at any health facility along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, is vital for building local capacity, especially now as the region strives  to control an ongoing cholera outbreak.

Since April, thousands of Burundian refugees have fled their country following political unrest and violence. More than 50 000 of them escaped towards Tanzania, in particular the Kigoma region, seeking refuge with distant relatives or being sheltered in the Nyarugusu refugee camp. This sudden influx of people, combined with overcrowding and poor sanitation, intensified the transmission of the ongoing outbreak of this waterborne disease.

“In view of the emerging situation with the Burundian asylum seekers, and the cholera outbreak following their arrival, we discovered issues in the surveillance system that required attention,” says Dr Innocent Komakech, part of WHO’s Disaster Preparedness and Response team in Tanzania. “We felt it was appropriate to further build the capacity of healthcare workers at health facility, district and regional levels, so that transmission of information can be done quickly. This will tremendously help the health response to any emerging issues, including the ongoing cholera outbreak.”

As part of the International Health Regulations, a number of diseases require immediate reporting by the local health authorities. A virulent disease, such as cholera, is part of this list. Once a cholera outbreak has been declared, specific case definition reporting forms must be filled and completed on a daily basis. These forms are then transmitted from the health facility to district, regional and national levels for further monitoring and reporting.

Dr Jairos N. Hiliza, the acting District Medical Officer for Uvinza District, says the WHO-led training was of great use. “Before, in our district, we didn’t have a way to conduct surveillance in a right way. For example, I was unaware of the existence of a case definition form,” explains Dr Hiliza. “But with this training, I now know what to do and how to fill it in. In addition, everyone should know the specific time to report, what to report and to whom to report to. This will give us the right data to be put into action for the betterment of our society.”  

An improved reporting system ultimately contributes to better monitoring of the various public health interventions needed for various health challenges, including a cholera outbreak. While using the collected information, an appropriate health response can be put in place to contain and control any disease spread.

“We must know if the various health interventions we put in place to contain cholera are making an impact or not,” adds Dr Komakech. “A solid and complete reporting system will also tell us if we need to tailor our health interventions, if other areas are affected by this waterborne disease, or how we can eliminate the risk factors based upon the emerging context.”

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For more information, please contact:

Pieter Desloovere; Email:  deslooverepi [at] who.int (deslooverepi[at]who[dot]int)

Dr Neema Kileo; Tel: +255 755 551804; Email: kileon [at] who.int (kileon[at]who[dot]int)

ease surveillance systems in this African country.