Action research applied to epidemiological surveillance in the “Syphilis No!” project.
Syphilis; Epidemiological surveillance; Epidemiological intelligence; Epidemiological intelligence rooms.
Introduction: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that, over the last few years, has had a significant increase in the notification of new cases, becoming an epidemic, especially in developing countries. In Brazil, from 2010 to 2017, there was a steep increase in the number of new cases of syphilis in the general population. Objective: In view of this scenario, the objective of this work is to carry out an action research applied to the restructuring of epidemiological and hospital surveillance rooms in the country, in order to promote and improve the technological strengthening of Health Surveillance in Brazil, with a focus on monitoring and confronting the syphilis epidemic. Methodology: The work was developed in some phases. In the first phase, a literature review of the topic in question was carried out. Afterwards, the solution proposal suggested by the technical team from the Health Surveillance Secretariat (SVS) of the Ministry of Health was analyzed, related to the technological solution for monitoring rooms for syphilis and other diseases. The third stage was composed of the diagnosis of a sample of the situation rooms, indicated by the SVS, understood as priorities for the fight against syphilis. The purpose of this diagnosis was related to the detailed analysis of some items, such as: infrastructure, facilities, and equipment made available. And the last stage of this research was related to the proposal of a new model of expansion of the rooms, with more efficient and less obsolescent models. Results: The proposal presented brought about a 44% reduction in the total cost involved, 83% reduction in the unit cost of the rooms, and a 79% increase in the number of rooms reached by the project, going from a total of 239 to 434.