NITI Aayog today released a white paper: Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance (PHS) in India.

Q.Discuss the role of Public Health Surveillance in the success of Ayushman Bharat Abhiyan.

Vision 2035 for PHS

• It is a continuation of the work on health systems strengthening.
• It contributes by suggesting mainstreaming of surveillance by making individual electronic health records the basis for surveillance.
• Public health surveillance (PHS) is an important function that cuts across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care. Surveillance is ‘Information for Action’.

Let’s have a look at the executive summary of the vision document:

PHS in India

• Surveillance is an important Public Health function.
• It is an essential action for disease detection, prevention, and control. Surveillance is ‘Information for Action’.

Why need PHS?

• Multiple disease outbreaks have prompted India to proactively respond with prevention and control measures. These actions are based on information from public health surveillance.
• India was able to achieve many successes in the past. Smallpox was eradicated and polio was eliminated.
• India has been able to reduce HIV incidence and deaths and advance and accelerate TB elimination efforts.
• These successes are a result of effective community-based, facility-based, and health system-based surveillance.
• The COVID19 pandemic has further challenged the country. India rapidly ramped up its diagnostic capabilities and aligned its digital technology expertise.
• This ensured that there was a comprehensive tracking of the pandemic.

Highlights of the vision document

• It builds on initiatives such as the Integrated Health Information Platform of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program.
• It aligns with the citizen-centricity highlighted in the National Health Policy 2017 and the National Digital Health Blueprint.
• It encourages the use of mobile and digital platforms and point of care devices and diagnostics for amalgamation of data capture and analyses.
• It highlights the importance of capitalizing on initiatives such as the Clinical Establishments Act to enhance private sector involvement in surveillance.
• It points out the importance of a cohesive and coordinated effort of apex institutions including the National Centre for Disease Control, the ICMR, and others.

Gap areas in India’s PHS that could be addressed

• India can create a skilled and strong health workforce dedicated to surveillance activities.
• Non-communicable disease, reproductive and child health, occupational and environmental health and injury could be integrated into public health surveillance.
• Morbidity data from health information systems could be merged with mortality data from vital statistics registration.
• An amalgamation of plant, animal, and environmental surveillance in a One-Health approach.
• PHS could be integrated within India’s three-tiered health system.
• Citizen-centric and community-based surveillance, and use of point of care devices and self-care diagnostics could be enhanced.
• To establish linkages across the three-tiered health system, referral networks could be expanded for diagnoses and care.

Moving ahead

• Establish a governance framework that is inclusive of political, policy, technical, and managerial leadership at the national and state level.
• Identify broad disease categories that will be included under PHS.
• Enhance surveillance of non-communicable diseases and conditions in a step-wise manner.
• Prioritize diseases that can be targeted for elimination as a public health problem, regularly.
• Improve core support functions, core functions, and system attributes for surveillance at all levels; national, state, district, and block.
• Establish mechanisms to streamline data sharing, capture, analysis, and dissemination for action.
• Encourage innovations at every step-in surveillance activity.

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