The four day planning meeting on the Strengthening Disease Early warning Alert and Response System (EWARS), concluded on 15 June, 2017 in Tunis in World Health Organization Office, Tunis. Strengthening EWARS is one of the important priority area in the European Union funded project known as “SHAMS” Project which is planned to continue for two years.
All the eight participants from MOH attend the workshop which included in charge of reference and Measles laboratory NCDC; in charge surveillance program and senior technical experts of surveillance department. The DG of Health Information Center also attended the workshop. Experts from WHO Country and Regional Office, WHO Lebanon and Iraq, and expert on strengthening from Jordan facilitated the workshop.
During these 4 days, the immediate notification and weekly reporting priority communicable diseases were reviewed and finalized. The guidelines, standard operating procedures and other necessary tools for implementing EWARS were reviewed and finalized.
A plan was prepared to train the 35 rapid response teams in August, followed by cascade of trainings inside Libya. NCDC staff were trained in analysis and weekly reporting on EWARS. The needs for strengthening Laboratory including capacity building were prepared.
The SHAMS Project will achieve the first result in the coming three month and will enable the MOH to timely detect and respond to the epidemic prone communicable diseases.
(Source: UNSMIL)
