Epidemiological Surveillance: A Growing Role in Humanitarian Emergencies

摘要

Epidemiology is acquiring an important role in a multi-sector approach to humanitarian aid. It is an extremely valuable instrument in order to collect and analyse data that can be difficult to obtain particularly after natural or man made disasters, and this information can be essential both in promoting accountability and as the basis for re-assessment and constant improvement of the activities carried out on the field. Information sharing among partners involved in international aid projects, in respect of confidentiality issues, is focal in the development of a network of trust and cooperation among relief agencies, local authorities and other partners such as Universities. This paper describes the role of this discipline in the partnership model developed in Sri Lanka among the Sri-lankan health authorities, the Italian Red Cross and the University of Rome on the wake of the 2004 tsunami.