European institutes for disease prevention and control collaborate

to improve public health surveillance

A European project to develop guidelines to strengthen public health surveillance and rapid response to prevent and assess health threat impact has been announced. The project, co-financed by the European commission, involves twenty four organisations from fourteen countries. It aims to produce a handbook for member states to allow future early warning systems to be developed and assessed.

Potential public health threats are usually detected through specific surveillance systems. However, such systems may not be rapid enough or may not detect all health hazards. For this reason syndromic surveillance, which is based on the presence of signs and symptoms, is an essential tool. Examples of sources used are data from emergency departments, pharmacy sales, telephone help lines, web queries and veterinary data. Syndromic surveillance monitors in near real time the spread and impact of events in a population, ranging from infectious diseases to environmental hazards, with the aim to limit morbidity and mortality. It is a tool that may significantly advance and modernise the practice of public health surveillance.

The Public Health Action Programme Triple S (Syndromic Surveillance Survey, Assessment towards Guidelines for Europe, grant agreement GA 2009.11.12) will review and analyse European syndromic surveillance systems. The program is co-financed by the European commission through the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers. It encompasses an inventory of existing and proposed syndromic surveillance systems and country visits for knowledge exchange and in-depth understanding of selected systems. The project will also provide scientific and technical guidance for the development and implementation of syndromic surveillance systems for both human and animal health, according to the needs and expectations of the member states. The aim of the Triple S project is to increase the European capacity for real-time or near-real time surveillance and monitoring of the health burden of expected and unexpected health related events.

The Health and Consumer Directorate General of the European Commission (DG Sanco), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the World Health Organization Europe (WHO/Europe) and the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) are members of the advisory board, to ensure good exchange of practices and expertise at both the European and the global level.



The Department of International Health is responsible to coordinate the country visits for knowledge exchange of experts interested or involved in syndromic surveillance from across Europe. The results of this work package will be reports on existing, pilot, expired or planned syndromic surveillance activities in the visited countries and guidelines for assessment of syndromic surveillance data sources for future users of syndromic surveillance.

If you are interested to join the country visits or learn more about the Triple S project, please visit the project's website: www.syndromicsurveillance.eu

Contact in the Department: Alexandra Ziemann, Thomas Krafft