Evaluation of COVID-19 Surveillance Systems in Local Government Health Departments in Sokoto State

Effective COVID-19 surveillance at the local government level is foundational to detecting cases early and triggering outbreak responses in Nigeria's decentralised health system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, North West states including Sokoto reported challenges in timely case notification and contact tracing. This study evaluates the performance of COVID-19 surveillance systems in local government health departments (LGHDs) across Sokoto State. Twelve LGHDs will be assessed using the WHO Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response evaluation framework, examining attributes including sensitivity (proportion of cases captured), timeliness, data quality, reporting completeness, and integration with the national Emergency Operations Centre. Document reviews of weekly IDSR surveillance reports submitted between 2021 and 2023, interviews with disease surveillance and notification officers, and assessment of contact tracing records will be combined. Analysis will compare LGHDs' surveillance performance against national benchmarks. Published evaluations of state-level COVID-19 surveillance in Nigeria identified recurrent gaps in LGHD-to-state reporting timeliness and low community-level contact tracing completion rates in the North West zone. Findings will produce LGHD-level surveillance performance profiles and a set of policy recommendations for the Sokoto State Ministry of Health to enhance post-pandemic respiratory disease surveillance preparedness. Keywords: COVID-19 surveillance, local government, Sokoto State, IDSR, outbreak response