Establish a Regional Network of Surveillance and Burden Assessment to Improve National Capacity through Knowledge Sharing and Experience Exchange
Surveillance—a challenge across the region—is critical not only for policy formation but for the development of efficient programs that will reach the target population. This is a country-level activity and countries have made much progress recently with technical support from WHO and financing support from development partners.
However, international cooperation—in creating information systems both to identify the prevalence and economic burden of NCDs and to determine how the care for NCDs is being financed and delivered—would provide momentum and be of great benefit for planning and potentially jumpstarting efforts in the area of surveillance.
Most regional countries already use international data-collection forms for surveillance efforts. It will be important for countries to review the information that is being collected and look for gaps in it. Most countries still rely on Global Burden of Disease study estimates. That methodology seldom has countryspecific data, leaving most estimates based on regional numbers, especially for the smaller countries.
To the extent that countries nee to collect data that are unique to their own country for policy formulation, using common data instruments may have the advantage that it allows for intercountry comparisons, at least for elements of comparative interest.
The rationale for a regional approach for establishing a surveillance network includes economies of scale from implementing similar surveys across the region, and the collective bargaining of governments with the institutions that will conduct the surveys and studies.
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