The World Health Organization's public health intelligence activities during the COVID-19 pandemic response, December 2019 to December 2021

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Togami, Eri, Griffith, Bridget, Mahran, Mostafa, Nezu, Ingrid H, Mirembe, Bernadette B, Kaasik-Aaslav, Kaja, Alexandrova-Ezerska, Lidia, Babu, Amarnath, Sedai, Tika Ram, Kato, Masaya et al (show 29 more authors) , Abbas, Heidi, Sadek, Mahmoud, Nabeth, Pierre, MacDonald, Lauren E, Hernandez-Garcia, Lucia, Pires, Jeffrey, Ildefonso, Stefany, Stephen, Mary, Lee, Theresa Min-Hyung, Impouma, Benido, Matsui, Tamano, Moon, Sangjun, Phenxay, Manilay, Biaukula, Viema, Ochirpurev, Ariuntuya, Schnitzler, Johannes, Fontaine, Julie, Djordjevic, Irena, Brindle, Hannah ORCID: 0000-0003-1684-5801, Kolmer, Jessica, McMenamin, Martina, Peron, Emilie, Kassamali, Zyleen, Greene-Cramer, Blanche, Hamblion, Esther, Abdelmalik, Philip, Pavlin, Boris I, Mahamud, Abdi Rahman and Morgan, Oliver (2022) The World Health Organization's public health intelligence activities during the COVID-19 pandemic response, December 2019 to December 2021. EUROSURVEILLANCE, 27 (49). 2200142-.

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Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presented a unique opportunity for the World Health Organization (WHO) to utilise public health intelligence (PHI) for pandemic response. WHO systematically captured mainly unstructured information (e.g. media articles, listservs, community-based reporting) for public health intelligence purposes. WHO used the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system as one of the information sources for PHI. The processes and scope for PHI were adapted as the pandemic evolved and tailored to regional response needs. During the early months of the pandemic, media monitoring complemented official case and death reporting through the International Health Regulations mechanism and triggered alerts. As the pandemic evolved, PHI activities prioritised identifying epidemiological trends to supplement the information available through indicator-based surveillance reported to WHO. The PHI scope evolved over time to include vaccine introduction, emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, unusual clinical manifestations and upsurges in cases, hospitalisation and death incidences at subnational levels. Triaging the unprecedented high volume of information challenged surveillance activities but was managed by collaborative information sharing. The evolution of PHI activities using multiple sources in WHO's response to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the future directions in which PHI methodologies could be developed and used.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Intelligence, Public Health, World Health Organization, Pandemics, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	23 Jan 2023 15:31
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2024 22:25
DOI:	10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.22...
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3167826