In from the field

I'm back in the office this week after having been in a place called Kibaha last week doing some field research.  After a couple of days back in Mogo, we'll be heading to Ngorongoro for a couple of weeks to complete our research. 

While we're in the field we'll be completing resource mapping work that we started last fall for the infectious disease surveillance systems for the animal and human health sectors.  Clement, me, and Esron (who is a vet and lecturer here at Sokoine University) visited both the Kibaha (near Dar es Salaam) and Ngorongoro (up in the north near the border with Kenya) Districts last November to collect information about infectious disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness and now we will be returning to gather more information on healthcare human resources at facilities and in communities. 

This time around we're also using mobile technology to collect our data.  What that means is we have these nifty cell phones that have a touch screen and have a program loaded onto them called EpiCollect.  Before heading out to the field we had created a short questionnaire for each health facility and ward (sort of like a county) to find out about the staff profile of the different animal and human health workers in the area. 

That form was then loaded onto the phones and so once we arrive at a facility, we can fill out the form on the phone, take GPS coordinates for the spot and a photo and upload it all to the internet right there from the phone!  It's pretty cool.  By the time we got back to the office after last week in Kibaha, I could go online and look on a map at all the places we'd been, and then open up any spot on the map to see the questionnaire for that facility.    

After we get back from Ngorongoro, we'll have a good idea of how the infectious disease surveillance systems are functioning in both a rural and urban area of Tanzania for both the human and animal health sectors.  We'll use this information to work with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Development here in Tanzania to look at how surveillance systems can be strengthened within each health sector, as well as collaboration between the animal and human sectors can be enhanced. 

But for now...back to Ngorongoro!