The Covid-19 pandemic has left major impact globally. Mauritius has been very efficient in responding to the pandemic through various measures established during the crisis. Although the response has been swift, the toll on the health of population as well as the socio-economic implications cannot be undermined. Among the key lessons learned, the need for strengthened preparedness and real-time early warning systems are of high priority. Mauritius thus endeavors to consistently strengthen its public health emergency preparedness and early warning system through the upscaling of its Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) System.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) with the support of World Health Organization has therefore made major progress in IDSR this year through 1. the adaptation of the 3rd edition of the WHO technical guidelines for IDSR to meet Mauritius context, 2.  the capacity building of healthcare workers through training of  46 trainers and 151 regional Health Care Workers on IDSR, 3. the initiation of a national cascade training of IDSR aiming to train 7000 health professionals in 181 health facilities in the Republic of Mauritius by December 2024, and 4. the revision of the list of priority diseases that will be part of the real-time surveillance and early warning system.

The results are encouraging with three out of five regions reporting on IDSR, and 102 participating in IDSR reporting compared to 45 facilities in September 2023.  Mauritius has also been reporting to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) with 100% timeliness compared to early 2023 where no reports were shared. The MOHW is working to ensure that 100% completeness is achieved by 2024.

Dr the Hon. Kailesh Kumar Jagutpal,  Minister of Health and Wellness, conveyed his vision as follows:

“The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the 21st century examples that emphasize on the crucial importance of disease surveillance. A robust surveillance system enables the detection of early alerts and warnings about diseases, conditions and events of public health importance.

One of the strategic objectives of the National Health Sector Strategic Plan of the Ministry is to build a robust and effective surveillance system by extending the use of electronic real time reporting system for data collection, transmission, analysis and information-sharing. The roll out of the 3rd Edition of IDSR is part of the National Action Plan for Health Security.”

Mauritius has an established task force which drives the upscaling of IDSR. The upcoming activities include:

• Validating the revised list of the priority diseases for real time IDSR reporting;
• Accelerate cascade training with the training of more than 7000 healthcare workers by end of 2024;
• Extend IDSR in Rodrigues outer island;
• Gradually transit to real time reporting as per the last Joint External Evaluation report;
• Disseminate approved technical guidelines; and
• Develop a user friendly IDSR handbook for Mauritius. 

Such strong political will of the Mauritius government to prioritize public health emergency preparedness, and the dedication and relentless work of a very determined and enthusiastic team at the Ministry of Health and Wellness is very much welcomed by the WHO country office and the experts who are accompanying the MOHW team in their journey to strengthen  early detection, reporting and response to health emergencies.

Dr Anne Ancia, WHO Representative in Mauritius stated : “Mauritius has appropriately prioritized the strengthening of its Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response as an essential element of public health emergencies preparedness and swift response not only for the health security of the Mauritian people but also for the rest of world by regular reporting of priority disease of concerns as per the International Health Regulations (2005)”.  

WHO will accompany the Ministry of Health and wellness in its ambitious and laudable objective of having all health facilities trained and reporting to IDSR by end of December 2024.