Agartala, February 25 (TIWN): A training programme for medical officers on Hospital Based Disease Surveillance under Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) was held at Pragna Bhawan here today.

After the introductory session, an overview of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) was presented by Dr. P Chatterjee while report on surveillance and data collection was given by Dr. MS Choudhury.

During the training programme some important topics on pandemic influenza (swine flu), Ebola virus disease, Japanese Encephalitis; Dengue and Meningococcal Meningitis and many others will be discussed by the medical experts.

The objective of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) is to strengthen the integrated disease surveillance system for epidemic-prone diseases by enhancing central level monitoring and coordination functions, improving state/district surveillance and response capacity with emphasis.

Additionally, the project will support efforts to timely prepare for detect and respond to influenza outbreaks in humans and animals.

According to the sources, surveillance is a core public health function that has received high political attention following the H1N1 pandemic and the serious H5N1 outbreaks that hit India in recent past. At a time when diseases can travel fast around the globe threatening economy and security worldwide, the country need to scale up its surveillance network, added source.