Question NW2578 to the Minister of Health
22 September 2023 - NW2578
Xaba, Mr N to ask the Minister of Health
What (a) is the surveillance and intervention capabilities of his department with regard to pandemics and epidemics, which are health risks that will continue to occur in the future and (b) is the capacity of his department to fulfil its role on the continent to respond to pandemics and epidemics?
Reply:
(a) The current surveillance capabilities to respond to epidemics and pandemics to health risks include the existence of Notifiable Medical Conditions system managed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), National Emergency Operation Centre, nine NICD Epidemiologists placed across nine provinces, as well as Surveillance Sub-Directorates under Communicable Disease Directorates and Outbreak Response Teams within the Department of Health across nine provinces. The list of priority diseases is being expanded to include subtropical diseases as guided by the World Health Organization. Capacity building workshops are being conducted across the provinces to ensure that clinicians, managers and epidemiologists are ready and equipped for pandemics and epidemics.
The existing surveillance capacity has been reviewed in May 2023 to inform the current draft Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) Strategic Plan 2030 which aims to –
(i) institute early warning systems to prevent the mass spread of infectious diseases and other health risks;
(ii) revive event and community-based surveillance systems;
(iii) strengthen one health approach by linking human health to animal health;
(iv) improve Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) surveillance systems at hospital level; and
(v) build an integrated health information system that uses existing electronic platforms through the mediator approach of linking webDHIS2 with Notifiable Medical Conditions electronic system, Port Health Surveillance, event-based and community surveillance, Animal Health surveillance system and disease specific surveillance systems.
(b) The Department is working with the Presidency in supporting the role of the President of the Republic in the African continent. The Department is supported by WHO to ensure compliance to the International Health Regulations of 2005 and participates in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body in order to ensure readiness to respond to epidemics and pandemics. This includes establishing an integrated platform for surveillance early warning system for early detection and curb the spread of emerging diseases.
END.