The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), in collaboration with The Ohio State University Global One Health initiative (GOHi), recently organized an annual review meeting on severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and influenza-like illnesses (ILI) surveillance. This landmark event aims to strengthen national and international efforts on influenza surveillance by introducing a national SARI/ILI surveillance protocol, evaluating national and site-level performance and assessing the performance of regional influenza testing laboratories.
Melkamu Abte, EPHI deputy director, emphasized the importance of continuity and collaborative partnership and highlighted that Ethiopia will strengthen its capacity to control respiratory infections. He also discussed how Ethiopia will enhance the SARI/ILI surveillance system by focusing on priorities such as equipment maintenance and calibration, reagent supply, quality and capacity building and reducing trained staff attrition.
Participants came from government institutions (regional health bureaus, public health facilities, regional influenza testing laboratories) and international partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-Ethiopia and GOHi.