Public Health Surveillance in India: Vision 2035 explained

NITI Aayog on December 14, 2020, released a white paper Vision 2035 - Public Health Surveillance in India. Know what the white paper is, its significance, its uses and what is Public Health Surveillance in India below.

What is a White Paper?

It is a report provided by an authority that informs the people associated with the issue about its depth and solution.  The papers sole objective is to help the readers to solve a problem and make a decision.

Significance of White Paper- Public Health Surveillance:

1. The white paper defines India’s vision for public health surveillance by integrating the three-tiered public health system into Ayushman Bharat.
2. It also defines the need for expanded referral networks and enhanced laboratory capacity in the country
3.  If the public health surveillance system would be citizen-friendly it would provide more privacy to the citizens that would be enabled with a client feedback mechanism.

Public Health Surveillance: Vision

1. The vision of this white paper is to make India’s public health surveillance system more responsive and predictive so that it can generate preparedness for action at all levels. The building blocks for this vision are an interdependent Centre and state relationships. 
2. India aims to provide regional and global leadership in events like a public health emergency of international concern.

Public Health Surveillance 2020: Details

1. As per NITI Ayog, “India’s Public Health Surveillance by 2035” 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.
2. By 2035, Public Health Surveillance would be governed by an adequately resourced effective administrative and technical structure and will ensure that it serves the public good
3. By 2035 India would have enhanced Prediction and Preparedness for Epidemic Outbreaks for communicable and emerging epidemics of non-communicable disease, both re-emergence of known illnesses in different forms, or new disease outbreaks or new geographic foci of NCD
4. The system needs to identify block chains in the implementation process and ensure the right policies for their solutions.

Steps to achieve Vision 2035:

1. It is important to raise the profile of Public Health Surveillance in India and to position Public Health Surveillance as a tool for the public good. For this one needs many stakeholders to be involved in one project. 
2. An independent Health Informatics Institute would need to be established to support and guide innovations and analytic activities that include the use of Internet of Things surveillance activities.
3. The scope of surveillance needs to be defined into broad categories of diseases/ conditions which must be simple and strategic
4. The WHO suggested the STEPwise approach, that is inclusive of death, disease and risk factors can be used and implemented to achieve the results
5. India can use multiple criteria, based on available information to prioritise diseases and conditions under each of the listed categories
6. India needs to improve core support functions, core functions and system attributes 
7. India would also need to encourage research and development for getting innovations and align Vision 2030 with Ayushman Bharat too. 

India’s Vision 2035 for Public Health Surveillance would be successful only if it provides integration within the three-tiered health system. It includes strengthened community-based surveillance, an expanded network of referrals and enhanced laboratory capacity. This will establish India to be a global/regional leader in Public Health Surveillance. 

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