Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) is a strategy conceived and adopted by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa in 1998. The goal of IDSR is to support PHSS in Africa and enhance efficiency and communication across all levels of the national public health system. IDSR emphasizes the commitment of the revised International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)] to strengthen and maintain core capacities to detect, assess, report, and respond to public health events of international concern.
In February 2014, the Sudan Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), requested an assessment of PHS with attention to PHSS integration opportunities and enhancing their ability to meet IHR (2005) requirements. A WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO/EMRO) team of consultants performed this mission in collaboration with the FMoH.
Objective
This presentation aims to discuss the need and share the results from an international, multi-disciplinary mission to assess public health surveillance (PHS) in Sudan and develop a plan of action (PoA) to strengthen PHS through integration. We will present the findings of the mission and the resulting PoA developed for Public Health Surveillance Strengthening (PHSS) designed to rapidly detect, report and respond to infectious diseases and establish sustainable, integrated One Health concepts.