MUSCAT: A training workshop on Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) tool commenced on Sunday at Mysk Hotel. The three-day workshop is organized by the Ministry of Health’s Directorate General of Diseases Surveillance & Control (DGDSC), represented by the Department of Prevention & Infection Control, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO-EIOS initiative seeks to enhance the capacity of the countries to rapidly detect, assess and follow-up all the public health risks, as well as evidence-based decision-making as required under the International Health Regulations (IHR).
It is aimed at recognizing the use of EIOS system within the public health framework and support the early warning and risk detection, in addition to describing the EIOS principles and identifying the basic terminology of the system. Participants would further identify the EIOS system tray, and conduct team and individual practical application of the EIOS system. The EIOS initiative is a network of public health organizations with one common goal that is to improve global health by preventing illness and saving lives through early warning for rapid response through the use of open source information for early detection, verification and assessment of public health risks and threats.
A number of international experts are lecturing in the training workshop. They will visit the DGDSC on Wednesday to share the Sultanate’s experience on the digitalization of monitoring and following-up the communicable diseases, as well as to identify means of dealing with and limiting the outbreaks and epidemics at the local, regional and international levels.
They will visit a health center to learn about the health information system (Shifa) in order to review the process of the patient’s health data entry as well the e-notification of the communicable conditions. In addition, they will be informed about methods of addressing such conditions based on the degree of infection going through the organizational structure of epidemiological notification of infectious disease cases in the Ministry and the Directorates generals of health services at the Governorates.
The Sultanate has been selected from the Eastern Mediterranean Region countries to be included in the first phase of the EIOS system training.
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