This community innovation has been accepted at the 2025 DHIS2 Annual Conference
Revolutionizing TB Surveillance in Pakistan: Custom Application Development and API Integration
Introduction
In 2021, Pakistan implemented the National Tuberculosis (TB) Surveillance System within the DHIS2 Tracker Capture platform, incorporating both public and private health sectors. This initiative aimed to streamline TB case reporting and monitoring nationwide. The integration of over 13,000 health facilities and more than 2,300 users into a unified system represents a significant step forward in addressing TB surveillance challenges.
Despite these achievements, managing the large number of facilities and users posed operational challenges. To address these issues, we developed a custom application that simplifies facility and user management by leveraging DHIS2 APIs to optimize functionality.
Key Metrics and Achievements
The National TB Surveillance System has successfully registered 385,187 TB cases from 2021 till now, with 173,105 (45%) reported from private health facilities and 212,082 (55%) from public health facilities. The system integrates a total of 13,868 health facilities, of which 12,493 (90%) are private and 1,375 (10%) are public. Besides, 2,327 users actively engage with the system, including 1,175 data entry users, with 603 (51%) in private facilities users and 572 (49%) in public facilities users. These statistics demonstrate the scale and impact of the system in effectively managing TB surveillance across diverse healthcare settings.
Challenges
The high volume of facilities and users posed significant operational challenges, including:
- Managing over 13,000 facilities and 2,300 users efficiently.
- Handling frequent requests for facility reassignment and user role updates.
- Ensuring seamless data entry and reporting across both public and private sectors.
Custom Application Development and API Integration
To overcome these challenges, we developed a custom DHIS2 extension that streamlines facility and user management. The application integrates DHIS2 APIs to enable bulk facility reassignment, role updates, and real-time synchronization.
Technical Workflow
The custom application follows a structured approach:
- User Interface (Custom App): Provides an interactive interface for administrators to manage facilities and users.
- DHIS2 API Layer: Connects the custom application with the DHIS2 core database.
- Database Interaction: The application pulls data from DHIS2 for facility-user mapping and pushes updates for reassignment or role modifications.
- Real-time Updates: Changes in user roles and facilities are instantly reflected across the DHIS2 platform.
This integration has resulted in
- Reduced administrative workload by automating facility-user management.
- Minimized errors in reassignment and role allocation.
- Enhanced efficiency, leading to improved TB data reporting and analytics.
Conclusion
The National TB Surveillance System has significantly enhanced TB monitoring and reporting in Pakistan. The integration of public and private health sectors, coupled with the development of a custom application, has addressed key challenges and streamlined operations. These efforts will continue to support national TB control objectives, ultimately contributing to better health outcomes for the population.
Our experience with DHIS2 API-powered custom extensions offers a scalable solution that can be replicated across other disease surveillance systems, ensuring sustainable and efficient health data management.
Primary Author: Bilal Ahmed