This community innovation has been accepted at the 2025 DHIS2 Annual Conference
From DHIS2 to SMART Guidelines for ESAVI
Vaccine safety surveillance remains a critical public health function, yet in 80% of countries in the Americas, it still relies on paper-based or basic IT tools, limiting efficiency and real-time monitoring. To address this gap, PAHO and UiO/HISP developed a DHIS2-based tracker program for Events Supposedly Attributable to Vaccination or Immunization (ESAVI), initially piloted in Latin America. This initiative facilitated national adaptations and implementations, providing structured data collection and streamlined workflows. Building on this experience, our team, with the collaboration of CENS, supported the development of a WHO SMART Guidelines Digital Adaptation Kit (DAK) for ESAVI surveillance. This standardized technical recommendation enables countries to either implement DHIS2 or enhance their existing vaccine safety surveillance systems while ensuring interoperability with global digital health frameworks. The DHIS2 ESAVI tracker has been successfully deployed in three member states and is now being expanded for national rollout alongside PAHO initiatives like VPD-SMART. The development process paralleled previous UiO/WHO collaborations, such as the HIV Digital Adaptation Kit, which helped refine HIV surveillance programs. This presentation will highlight the benefits of using DHIS2 for ESAVI surveillance, emphasizing how structured digital tools improve data quality, reporting, and decision-making. By leveraging WHO SMART Guidelines, countries can standardize surveillance while maintaining flexibility for local adaptations. The experience gained from developing and implementing this system demonstrates the potential of digital solutions to strengthen vaccine safety monitoring at scale.
Primary Author: Daniel Rizzato Lede
Keywords:
ESAVI, vaccine safety, AEFI, Interoperability, DAK, FHIR
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