The World Health Organization (WHO) says Africa records an average of three public health threats per week, with viral haemorrhagic diseases, cholera and measles on top of the list, a senior official has revealed.
Addressing delegates at the launch of the 3rd Edition of the Technical Guidelines for Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response in Zambia, WHO Emergencies Programme officer Dr Janneth Mghamba said outbreaks happened because of weak public health systems that are are unable to prevent, detect and respond to threats.
Dr Maghamba said Africa has a poor coverage of integrated disease surveillance and response systems. She said the IDSR guidelines were designed from lessons learnt in the 2014 Ebola viral disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa.
The IDSR project seeks to provide contemporary guidance on disease surveillance for WHO member states in line with regional strategies for health security and the control of emergencies between 2016 and 2020.
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