The Challenge
In the last few decades, we have seen the emergence of new infectious diseases that have rapidly spread—or have the potential to spread—into worldwide pandemics: HIV/AIDS, Ebola, SARS, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and now H1N1 influenza (swine flu). These diseases threaten the health, the livelihoods, and the very lives of the world’s poorest people.
The threat of another pandemic in the next few years, from a new infectious disease like H1N1, is real.
Once these diseases spread beyond localized regions, they become exponentially more difficult to stop. Therefore, early detection by effective disease surveillance networks that operate across national borders is key to containing them and preventing pandemics. However, the regions most at risk are not equipped for the task. They do not have the capacity to effectively monitor and report the first signs of outbreaks within their nations, let alone coordinate such communications with neighboring countries.
Our Strategy
The Foundation’s Linking Global Disease Surveillance Networks initiative, is working to establish transnational detection, monitoring and communications systems to strengthen disease prevention. This initiative aims to mitigate the impact of disease outbreaks through three strategies:
- Optimizing individual and institutional capacity for disease surveillance in two regions at highest risk—the Mekong region in Asia and both Eastern and Southern Africa
- Promoting collaboration in disease surveillance and response across countries and within regions to improve horizontal communication and knowledge sharing
- Building bridges between disease surveillance networks and international agencies—and connections between animal health, human health and environmental health—through the One Health approach—increasing the efficiency of global systems for disease surveillance and response
Key Outcomes
This initiative is designed to establish more effective surveillance and response systems that can operate more quickly during disease outbreaks. Efficient monitoring and response can protect the lives of more people in Southeast Asia and Eastern and Southern Africa against the dangerous spread of disease. We expect to:
- Set up transboundary disease surveillance networks in Southeast Asia, and in Eastern and Southern Africa to enable disease surveillance practitioners to collaborate, share information, and learn how to more effectively address disease threats.
- Give disease surveillance practitioners and their institutions better capacity to strengthen, apply and share technical and communication skills in disease surveillance to more effectively address disease threats.
- Provide disease surveillance practitioners with better access to improved tools and methods for efficiently monitoring, sharing and reporting information to respond to disease threats.
- Ensure that policymakers, human health and veterinary practitioners and environmental conservationalists take a trans-disciplinary approach to policy and practice in animal and human health emphasizing the “One Health” principles at global, regional and local levels.
