We face a global challenge. The spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19, the disease it causes, is exposing inequalities in health systems and inadequacies in global disease surveillance systems on a worldwide scale. The need for tools that enable real-time case reporting and disease surveillance has never been more obvious.
At the LTFHC, we’ve been thinking about these kinds of global disease surveillance issues for years and we’ve taken steps to work on this difficult and multifaceted challenge in forward-thinking ways. Unfortunately, we haven’t always been rewarded for thinking far ahead of conventional wisdom. Our innovation around complex problems may not be understandable to people and organizations not on the ground at the community level. Larger agencies and organizations have been slow to realize the enormous consequences of incomplete public health data, but we have always understood the importance and urgency of this issue and remained steadfast in our efforts. You, our friends and supporters, have enabled us to think ahead and proactively, and believed in our approach. We are so grateful.
DONATE TODAY. THE TIME IS NOW!
The app has been purpose-built to function in the Congo’s challenging operational environment. Its intuitive interface was designed for users with little to no exposure to technology, and an online dashboard allows for Ministry of Health access to real-time epidemiological data and reports. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a hotbed of known and emergent diseases, where the health system is already overloaded and under-resourced, the current pandemic could have a devastating impact. Our technology will be a game-changer for future epidemics and public health emergencies, as well as provide accurate and real-time information for planning, policy, and allocation of health resources.
Now that COVID-19 is in the DRC, the need to have robust community-level surveillance is more crucial than ever. We have a tool for the job but we need your support to establish the right partnerships to scale its availability.
P.S. Preparing for and preventing infectious disease outbreaks currently cannot happen with analog patient recordkeeping in hard-to-reach populations like the DRC. The lack of ability to gather community level public health data is the single greatest Achilles’ heel in global disease surveillance and management. With your donation we can continue our work and upstream ways of thinking about global disease surveillance tools so that we are aware of outbreaks before they become pandemics.
