Africa CDC advances framework to turn community voices into public-health action

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has advanced a continental framework to turn community voices, behavioural data and information trends into public-health action.

The initiative is being developed with African Union (AU) Member-States, regional institutions and technical partners.

This was contained in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

NAN reports that the framework, known as Behavioural Intelligence and Infodemic Management (BIIM), is designed to strengthen how behavioural, social, community and information-environment evidence informs public-health decisions across Africa.

The development followed a five-day workshop in Mombasa, Kenya, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3, where experts from Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe reviewed and validated key components of the emerging BIIM package.

The package includes the BIIM Framework, Strategy, Digital and Data Architecture, and Roadmap for institutionalisation and implementation.

The statement said BIIM would enable countries to integrate behavioural and social data, community feedback, social listening, information-environment signals, service-delivery and programme data, and rapid research into decision-ready intelligence.

It said the initiative was not intended to create another database or parallel reporting system, but to connect and strengthen existing national capabilities while establishing common continental standards.

Ms Mary Muriuki, Principal Secretary, Kenya Ministry of Health, said BIIM would strengthen existing national systems rather than create parallel structures.

“BIIM is not another platform or parallel system. It strengthens and connects existing national capabilities,” she said.

Muriuki also agreed to champion BIIM across Africa to strengthen member-state leadership and political engagement around its institutionalisation.

According to the statement, the framework will move information through a pathway from signals to intelligence, decisions and action.

“A community concern, rumour, survey finding, service-delivery problem or social-media trend could serve as a signal.

“The information will then be verified, triangulated with other evidence, interpreted and prioritised before being translated into recommendations for decision-makers.

“The approach could support public-health priorities like emergency preparedness and response, immunisation, primary healthcare, community trust and uptake of health services,” it said.

Dr Lul Pout Riek, Special Representative of the Director General for the Eastern Africa Regional Coordinating Centre, Africa CDC, said institutionalisation would be the real test of the initiative.

“The technical architecture is important, but institutionalisation is the real test,” he said.

Riek said behavioural intelligence must become part of how public-health institutions routinely understands risks, make decisions and act.

Dr Priscilla Madzinga-Kusena, Head of Social and Behaviour Change and Advocacy, Africa CDC, said Africa did not have a shortage of data or signals, but could not systematically connect fragmented evidence to decisions and action.

“The gap is our ability to systematically connect fragmented evidence to decisions and action,” Madzinga-Kusena said.

She said the ultimate test would be whether intelligence reached the right decision-maker, triggered action and generated lessons from that action.

The statement said the continental approach would not require countries to adopt identical systems.

“Member-states will determine the institutional home, governance arrangements, data stewardship and implementation model for their national BIIM capabilities, while Africa CDC will provide common standards, technical guidance, coordination and quality assurance,” it said.

Mr Patrick Lansana, Vice President, ECOWAS RCCE Network, said the ECOWAS RCSDC welcomed the framework as a step towards a harmonised intelligence-to-action approach across Africa.

Lansana said regional coordination would strengthen country-owned BIIM systems, improve cross-border intelligence and help prevent duplication.

NAN reports that the Mombasa workshop marks a transition from framework development to institutionalisation and implementation.

The proposed roadmap will support countries to establish minimum capabilities, apply BIIM to priority health challenges and progressively integrate behavioural intelligence into routine national health systems. (NAN)