The 117 Call Center (117) provides a mechanism to log community and field reports on mortality and suspected disease which enhances the ability to detect, prevent and improve response to disease outbreak. The call center software enables improved preparedness and response to disease outbreaks via added data analysis, automated notifications to field health teams and dashboard visualizations of reported health cases across Sierra Leone. this information enables the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and partners to make timely and evidence based decisions about how to meet the health needs of the population.

countries

Sierra Leone

funding

UK Department of International Development (DFID)/Centres for Disease Control Foundation (CDCF)

eHA implements this project in collaboration with the MoHS to operationalize a 24 hour national call center with a decentralized alert management system across 13 of Sierra Leone’s 14 districts which are manned by district coordinators and operators. eHA developed an automated, user friendly software system, that collects syndromic information pivotal to surveillance as well as remote sync abilities that enables referral and emergency response coordination.

Call information is received and logged by operators who refer information to field teams for follow-up. Data analytics from the calls are pushed to the District Health Management Teams in real time. In the event of an emergency, 117 also becomes a coordinating and logistics management connector between the public and the MoHS emergency response teams.

During Sierra Leone’s Ebola epidemic, 117 served as an emergency response referral system for the multitude of daily case reports from communities. The call center received and successfully managed a total of 299,000 Ebola related calls during the epidemic period. Information and analysis available through the 117 system strategically supported and informed the collective response.

Government officials were first notified of the severity and casualties of Sierra Leone’s August 2017 flood and mudslide disasters, via calls made to 117. The alert system was utilized to track locations of victims, dispatch ambulatory services and coordinate burials.

Frequently reported case categories to 117 include calls for death, obstetric emergencies, Ebola ‘suspect’, public health information, health emergency needing ambulatory services and cases related to security threats.

eHA's role

Provide the programmatic, information communication technology, software, and operational infrastructure
Maintain live dashboards at all district health management team headquarters throughout the country
Engage in national and district level capacity building and mentorship support for surveillance teams to use available data for evidence based decision-making.