Overview

What is WebIFA?

WebIFA is one common platform for most of polio surveillance needs for both surveillance and lab officers:

  • AFP surveillance

  • Environmental Surveillance

  • Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders (iVDPV)

WebIFA provides key benefits by:

  • centralizing surveillance and lab data

  • increasing timeliness of data and data entry productivity

  • reducing errors and improving data quality

  • enabling real time data availability

  • enabling usage in remote location where there is no internet

WebIFA’s history and development

WebIFA was launched in 2017 and continues to evolve to this day:

  • 2017–2019: WebIFA was initially developed in Pakistan in 2017 and extended to Afghanistan in 2019. The system was designed to support the collection, reporting, and analysis of polio-related data (AFP cases and specimens) at regional, national, and provincial levels.

  • 2020–2021: In response to a request from WHO to expand WebIFA to other countries in the region and to support offline usage for users with limited internet access, the system’s architecture was redesigned into a multi-site model. A browser-based client component was also developed to enable offline data entry.

  • 2022–Present: WebIFA’s expansion into the AFRO region began in 2022, with pilot implementations in Uganda, followed by South Sudan and Kenya.

  • Ongoing Efforts: The expansion of WebIFA continues across both EMRO and AFRO regions, aiming to strengthen data systems and disease surveillance capabilities throughout the two regions.