From 9 to 12 May 2023, international experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the University of Oslo (UiO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and FAO convened in Rome, Italy, for an interoperability workshop on EMPRES Global Animal Disease Information System (EMPRES-i) and District Health Information Software (DHIS2) aimed at enhancing multisectoral One Health information sharing for early warning and response.
The event brought together early warning specialists, epidemiologists, disease information system managers and information technology managers, including technical developers, to discuss the implementation of different interoperability scenarios that would enable countries to connect their animal health and public health information systems.
This collaborative effort seeks to operationalize joint surveillance against zoonotic diseases by national authorities responsible for safeguarding the health of people and animals The approach is expected to enhance early disease detection and containment, facilitate efficient health service delivery and implementation of control measures, to prevent and contain future epidemics and pandemics.
A key tool in this collaboration is EMPRES-i, FAO’s global animal disease information and early warning platform, which recently underwent modernisation (EMPRES-i+) to enhance forecasting capabilities and enable countries to monitor disease spread and risk of new outbreaks. EMPRES-i+ plays a crucial role in supporting national veterinary services in preventing, detecting, and responding to One Health threats at regional and global levels. Data collection and reporting in the field is facilitated by the Event Mobile Application (EMA-i), which has been customized for national use and implemented in more than 13 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The free and open-source information software DHIS2 developed and maintained by UiO is currently utilised in over 90 countries across Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, Asia, and the Pacific. Through a cooperative agreement with UiO, the CDC is financing the development of an online One Health toolkit designed to integrate and leverage existing investments in human and animal health surveillance systems. This includes the involvement of the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, community health workers, local staff cross-training and support, and information and communications technology infrastructure.
During the four-day meeting, participants explored various scenarios of interoperability between animal health and public health information system. The primary scenarios discussed involved leveraging the existing tools, such as DHIS2 for public health and Event Mobile Application (EMA-I) for animal health, to establish interoperability between them at the national level. Another scenario discussed was expanding DHIS2 to include a specific data collection package for animal health, which countries not using EMA-i could adopt while ensuring interoperability with EMPRES-i. Various levels and formats of interoperability, ranging from notifications and messages to data exchange were considered within each scenario. The primary objective was to develop solutions allowing countries to choose and customize the most suitable approach based on their specific needs and goals.
The next steps in this initiative involve further informatics development, followed by piloting the One Health package with national stakeholders. Following the progress made during the workshop, this meta-data package for zoonotic surveillance will be implemented in DHIS2. The meta-data specifications will be developed in conjunction with the EMPRES team to ensure interoperability between EMPRES-I and DHIS2 for the surveillance data collected – that is, information sharing between animal health and public health teams when handling zoonotic diseases.
Supported by CDC, UiO and FAO, the pilot phase will initially take place in Guinea, Ghana, and Tanzania, with other countries in Africa and Asia identified for subsequent se rounds. CDC and FAO, through EMPRES will work together to support counties in defining their specific needs for One Health surveillance and guide the development of the module prior to the pilot phase.Subsequently, they will roll out, test, evaluate, and modify the configuration for incorporation into a generic metadata package.
The process will enable countries to initiate and establish collaborative zoonotic pathogen surveillance in a standardizedway that is more efficient and effective.
Source : FAO
