Incomplete Reporting of HIV/AIDS by Uganda’s Surveillance System and the Associated Factors ()
Affiliation(s)
1School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
2School of Social Welfare, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.
3School of Public Health, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The United States government supported Ugandan government by introducing the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) in 2012 to improve HIV/AIDS surveillance. Districts have yet to fully adopt this relatively new system given a 70.2% reporting completeness achieved nationally between April-June 2013. Methods: The study examined one dependent variable of districts’ reporting completeness against four independent variables: 1) Number of client visits; 2) Number of district health units; 3) Number of NGOs delivering HIV/AIDS services; and 4) Regional location. The study employed cross-sectional study design which allowed researchers to compare many different variables at the same time. HIV/AIDS program data that were reported by districts into DHIS2 during the period of April to June 2013 were used to assess for reporting completeness. Findings: Districts with the lowest number of client visits (under 2500) achieved the highest mean reporting completeness (81.6%), whereas a range of 2501 - 5000, or over 5001client visits recorded 72.4% and 51.7% respectively. The higher the number of client visits is, the lower the reporting completeness is (p < 0.05). Those districts that were receiving support from only one and two NGO recorded 56.7% and 67.2% respectively. Districts supported by over three NGOs had the highest (80.6%) mean reporting completeness. NGOs-district support was statistically associated with reporting completeness (p < 0.05). The number of health units operated by a district was also significantly associated with reporting completeness (p < 0.05). The regional location of a district was not associated with reporting completeness (p = 0.674). Conclusion: The study results led us to recommend targeted future NGO support to districts with higher patient volume for HIV/AIDS services. Particularly, newly funded NGOs are to be established in districts operating over 40 health units. Incomplete reporting undermines identification of HIV-affected individuals and limits the ability to make evidence-based decisions regarding HIV/AIDS program planning and service delivery.
Share and Cite:
Bwesigye, D. , Loneck, B. and Sherman, B. (2016) Incomplete Reporting of HIV/AIDS by Uganda’s Surveillance System and the Associated Factors.
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
6, 125-132. doi:
10.4236/ojpm.2016.64011.
Cited by
No relevant information.