OpenWHO is collaborating with the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) on the production of an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) 3rd Edition online Training Package, which will consist of 5 courses in English, French and Portuguese.
To date, on OpenWHO, Course 1 is available in English and French with the remaining 4 courses all available in English for a total of 7712 enrolments, 2879 Records of Achievement and 2587 Confirmation of Participation certificates issued. All courses should be launched in French and Portuguese by the end of 2021.
The aim of the training package is to contribute to the implementation of the Regional strategy for integrated disease surveillance and response: 2020-2030 for preventing and responding to health emergencies. This Strategy was adopted by Member States in August 2019 during the 69th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa for implementing comprehensive public health surveillance and response systems for priority diseases, conditions and events at all levels of health systems with the aim of lessening the impact of public health outbreaks.
The IDSR Technical Guidelines 3rd Edition explicitly describe what needs to be established at each level of the health system to detect and respond to diseases, conditions and public health events that are responsible for preventable illnesses, deaths and disabilities in local communities. The guidelines also recommend thresholds for action and for responding to alerts. In 2021, guidelines on COVID-19 have been added and are on each course landing page.
The IDSR online Training Package is part of a comprehensive IDSR capacity-building programme being implemented by AFRO, which also includes virtual training sessions and webinars by Project ECHO, and case-based and remote communities of practice.