Health Emergencies in Large Populations - The H.E.L.P. Course

1. Participants are able to take part in setting-up and implementing a functional health surveillance system in an acute or protracted crisis situation

1.1. Participants are able to explain the purpose and intended use of a health surveillance system

• Defining (public) health surveillance (WHO)

  • Type of monitoring -> continuous process

• Surveillance cycle

• Purpose /role health surveillance in crisis situations

1.2. Participants are able to explain practical aspects of setting up and/or maintaining a properly functioning health surveillance system

• Surveillance types

• Passive - Active

  • Morbidity surveillance

    • Disease - Syndromic

    • Case definitions -Sensitive, simple & stable

  • Mortality surveillance

• Surveillance network

  • Exhaustive - Sentinel

• MoH routine surveillance system - EWARS/N

• Principles of health surveillance in crises

• Data collection, reporting and response process

  • Case definitions -disease, syndromic Sensitivity and Specificity are discussed in module Outbreak investigation and control

  • Reporting form

  • Demography / estimating number of affected people – discussed in module Data collection, analysis and sharing

  • Daily/Weekly reporting vs immediate alert notification – how to transmit data

    • Alerts thresholds

• Challenges when setting-up / maintaining a surveillance system

1.3. Participants are able to identify diseases/syndromes to be included in a health surveillance and early warning system during a crisis situation

• Key points for diseases surveillance data

  • Risk assessment

    • Diseases endemic in affected area

    • Seasonal patterns

    • Epidemic prone diseases

    • Ability to cause severe morbidity and high mortality

    • Availability of prevention & control measures

  • Maximum number to be included