Strengthening Community-Based Surveillance on Deaths and Diseases: Perspectives of Lady Health Workers and Supervisors

Abstract

Community-based surveillance (CBS) is a proactive public health strategy that engages local health actors in the identification, reporting, and response to health-related events at the grassroots level. In Pakistan, the National Lady Health Worker Program are pivotal to CBS implementation, given their embedded role in the community and the health system.^1-3 Despite their outreach, community-level surveillance of both deaths and diseases remains fragmented and underutilized both at the hospital and community level. Understanding the lived experiences of LHWs and LHSs is critical for strengthening surveillance frameworks and improving early disease detection and mortality reporting. This study was aimed to identify and quantify the mental and socioeconomic enabling factors and challenges reported by LHWs and LHSs while performing their community-based surveillance (CBS) duties at Barakahu, Islamabad.