Implementation of eSurveillance in the context of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response is the foundation for the monitoring of the health situations and assessment of trends for decision making.

16-18 July 2015, Cape Town, South Africa

Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) is a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy for strengthening national public health surveillance and response in the African Region linking community, health facility, district and national levels.

Member States of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and their technical partners adopted the IDSR for use in the Region in 1998. Within Africa, IDSR is the agreed-upon framework for implementation of core capacities under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005). Additionally, IDSR takes into account the One Health approach which is an initiative that addresses events at the intersection of human, domestic animal, wildlife, and ecosystem health.

One of the objectives of the IDSR is to improve the flow of surveillance information between and within levels of the health system to conduct a rapid response to suspect epidemics or acute public health threats and to monitor the impact of interventions. Timely generation of data and information using the electronic tools will facilitate detection and timely response to public health threats.

In light of the above, WHO in collaboration with partners are developing and implementing the IDSR eSurveillance initiative as part of the implementation of the WHO resolutions on eHealth. eSurveillance is the use of electronic systems to facilitate rapid collection, analysis, reporting and use of both human and animal health data for health protection and appropriate public health action.

Among the key steps for implementation of eSurveillance is the establishment of the African Surveillance Informatics Governance Board (ASIGB) and the Surveillance Informatics Technical Advisory Group (SITAG) in the Region.  The ASIGB will support countries with policy development and articulating government commitments for enhancing health electronic systems and the Surveillance Informatics Technical Advisory Group (SITAG) that serves as a technical resource to the ASIGB.  In addition, Member States need to conduct eSurveillance Assessment using standardized tools, develop an action plan for eSurveillance implementation and implement eSurveillance in the context of IDSR, IHR, animal disease surveillance and response and the One Health approach.

In order to review the current status of eSurveillance in selected countries and identify strategic actions to address key issues and challenges on eSurveillance implementation in the WHO African Region, the Health Security and Emergencies Cluster organized the 3^rd Meeting on African Surveillance Informatics Governance Board in Cape Town, South Africa from 16 to 18 July 2015.

A total of 68 participants composed of Member States from nine selected countries namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe, WHO headquarters, regional and country offices, World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and partners were present at the meeting. The participants were representatives from Ministries of Health and Agriculture and partners were from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET).

After the three day meeting, strategic guidance on strengthening standards-based interoperable information systems for public and veterinary health surveillance was provided and best practices and lessons learned for the implementation of eSurveillance were further discussed. The meeting agreed on required interventions to be taken for full operationalization of ASIGB and SITAG in the WHO African Region and concrete actions for implementation and sustainability of eSurveillance in Member States.