Assessment

Mirroring public health response to infectious disease outbreaks, many public health departments are taking an outbreak management approach to respond to drug overdose surges 1-3. The Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) has developed an overdose response plan (ORP) integrating drug overdose surveillance and community stakeholder response strategies. Effective drug overdose surveillance requires accurate and reliable data streams. This work assessed data sources utilized for county overdose surveillance and provided recommendations to improve overdose surveillance.

Objective: To assess the data sources used to monitor overdose events in Marion County and improve community overdose surveillance.

Imbalances in wealth, education, infrastructure, socio-political leadership, healthcare, and demographics create opportunities and challenges when implementing public health interventions. Understanding these, while embracing "smart power," one can objectively assess a country's receptivity for support. Therefore, we developed a novel conceptual framework and toolset that objectively measured opportunities and challenges to inform decision-making, specifically about future implementation of the Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) - a computer-based system for national reporting and monitoring of reportable human and veterinary infectious diseases in East Africa and the Middle East.

This study assessed the performance of the core function activities (CFA) of the Communicable Disease Surveillance system and response (CDSs) existing in Gazera State. The first assessment of disease surveillance being conducted in the area during 2008-2009. The assessment findings facilitate the identification of exact areas for improvement and consequently was used in surveillance system improvement as well as a baseline for future reform plans (1). Communicable diseases in Gazera State continue to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality (2). The State was one of the states that experienced epidemics of serious diseases such as Acute Watery Diarrhoea, Cerebro-spinal Meningitis, Rift valley Fever..etc. During the last decade, the state has witnessed more than twenty epidemics resulting in high morbidity and mortalities, as reported in 2006-2007(1). This was coupled with struggling health services and health information system and this was stated in the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) annual report 2008 (2).

Objective

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of staff qualification and training on the performance of Core Function Activities (CFA) Of Communicable Disease Surveillance System in Gazera State, Sudan.

A laboratory biosafety program (LBP) is essential to ensure the health and safety of laboratory staff and the general public from hazardous materials and infectious agents. In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets federal standards governing LBPs that enforce best practices by non-regulatory organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [1]. In addition, twenty-five states and two territories established OSHA-approved biosafety standards that meet or exceed federal standards [2]. The CDC/NIH's Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories [BMBL] are the primary guidelines for LBPs, and many jurisdictions use the manual in a regulatory manner [3]. Ensuring laboratory biosafety requires vigilance; laboratories must maintain equipment and materials, develop and implement security measures, and staff must be annually trained in biosafety procedures. Our evaluation of LBPs underscored the importance of the human element in biosafety compliance.

Objective

To understand the potential gaps in laboratory biosafety due to human factors.