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Development and On-Field Deployment of a Mobile-Based Application ‘MoSQuIT’ for Malaria Surveillance in International Border Districts of Northeast India—Challenges and Opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Saurav Jyoti Patgiri

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Gunenja Gobinda Gohain

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Santanu Kumar Goswami

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Dibya Ranjan Bhattacharyya

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Sudhanshu Hari Das Debnath

    (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune 411007, India)

  • Lakshmi Panat

    (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune 411007, India)

  • Ganesh Karajkhede

    (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune 411007, India)

  • Pradyumna K. Mohapatra

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Devojit Kumar Sarma

    (ICMR-National Institute for Research in Environmental Health, Bhopal 462030, India)

  • Ipsita Pal Bhowmick

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Kongkona Gogoi

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Sujit Biswas

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Jayanta Debnath

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Sukanta Acharjee

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Susmita Senapati

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Rahul Neog

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Prabal Nath

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Keisham Meitei

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Subrata Baidya

    (Department of Community Medicine, Agartala Government Medical College, Agartala 799006, India)

  • Dinesh Debbarma

    (National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Dhalai 799289, India)

  • Ajit Sarma

    (National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Dhalai 799289, India)

  • Rahim A. Ahmed

    (National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Udalguri 784509, India)

  • Hemkanta Boro

    (Department of Health & Family Welfare, Tamulpur, Baksa 781367, India)

  • Rubal Chandra Das

    (Changlang District Hospital, Changlang 792120, India)

  • Jagadish Mahanta

    (ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East Region, Dibrugarh 786010, India)

  • Satya Ranjan Debbarma

    (Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Agartala 799006, India)

  • Harpreet Kaur

    (Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi 110029, India)

Abstract

The conventional paper-based system for malaria surveillance is time-consuming, difficult to track and resource-intensive. Few digital platforms are in use but wide-scale deployment and acceptability remain to be seen. To address this issue, we created a malaria surveillance mobile app that offers real-time data to stakeholders and establishes a centralised data repository. The MoSQuIT app was designed to collect data from the field and was integrated with a web-based platform for data integration and analysis. The MoSQuIT app was deployed on mobile phones of accredited social health activists (ASHA) working in international border villages in the northeast (NE) Indian states of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh for 20 months in a phased manner. This paper shares the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of MoSQuIT for malaria surveillance. MoSQuIT employs the same data entry formats as the NVBDCP’s malaria surveillance programme. Using this app, a total of 8221 fever cases were recorded, which included 1192 (14.5%) cases of P. falciparum malaria, 280 (3.4%) cases of P. vivax malaria and 52 (0.6%) mixed infection cases. Depending on network availability, GPS coordinates of the fever cases were acquired by the app. The present study demonstrated that mobile-phone-based malaria surveillance facilitates the quick transmission of data from the field to decision makers. Geospatial tagging of cases helped with easy visualisation of the case distribution for the identification of malaria-prone areas and potential outbreaks, especially in hilly and remote regions of Northeast India. However, to achieve the full operational potential of the system, operational challenges have to be overcome.

Suggested Citation

  • Saurav Jyoti Patgiri & Gunenja Gobinda Gohain & Santanu Kumar Goswami & Dibya Ranjan Bhattacharyya & Sudhanshu Hari Das Debnath & Lakshmi Panat & Ganesh Karajkhede & Pradyumna K. Mohapatra & Devojit K, 2022. "Development and On-Field Deployment of a Mobile-Based Application ‘MoSQuIT’ for Malaria Surveillance in International Border Districts of Northeast India—Challenges and Opportunities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-14, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2561-:d:756300
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