Abstract:
Introduction: Ethiopia implemented the Ethio-Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) Project with support from the Pandemic Fund (2023–2025) by coordinately working with 24 national and international partners in the country.
• National assessments and external evaluations has been used to identify to identify major systemic gaps in disease surveillance specifically the fragmented and predominantly paper-based disease surveillance system. This resulted in delayed reporting, inconsistent data quality, and weak event-based surveillance capacities, limiting outbreak detection and response.
• Therefore, the EPPR project has been crafted to introduce and sustainably support the digitalization of surveillance through the Ethiopian Public Health Emergency Management System (ePHEM) and integration with the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) into the national surveillance workflows.
Context and Aim: Ethiopia faces recurrent outbreaks including cholera, measles, mpox, dengue, cVDPV2, including the recent Malburg virus. High level of population mobility across borders with countries such as Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Djibouti further increases importation as well as transmission risks.
• The aim of the EPPR surveillance component was to:
• Reduce detection-to-response time through digitization and national adoption of approaches such as the 7-1-7 approach,
• Increase IDSR data quality and timeliness both at public and private sectors,
• Introducing equity and enable real-time reporting from all regions,
• Integrate event-based and indicator-based systems,
• Strengthen capacity at Points of Entry, and
• Build sustainable digital public health intelligence capacity.
• The overall goal was to establish a national digital surveillance platform that supports early detection and rapid response to public health threats.
Method:
• Development and national rollout of ePHEM digital surveillance platform through the national public health institute.
• Integration with EIOS for daily scanning, verification, and classification of open-source epidemic intelligence.
• Training of 93 surveillance and data management staff at national, regional, and PoE levels.
• Deployment of computers, tablets, software, and connectivity support to regions and Points of Entry.
• Alignment with national IDSR technical guidelines and DHIS2 reporting standards.
• Tests conducted through real outbreaks (mpox, cholera, measles) to validate system functionality.
• Data flow established: Regional surveillance → ePHEM → EPHI PHEOC → verification → response.
• Strengthening PoE surveillance: screening, mobility mapping, VRAM risk assessments.
Findings
Quantitative Findings:
• IDSR completeness improved from 76% → 95%.
• Detection-to-response time reduced from 14 days → 5 days.
• 13 regions reporting digitally into ePHEM.
• 93 staff trained on digital surveillance & EIOS.
• 1.8 million travelers screened for mpox using enhanced PoE surveillance.
• 15 Point of Entries’s (PoEs) IHR core capacity assessments completed.
• 25 PoEs equipped with surveillance supplies (RDTs, thermometers, communication tools).
• Population mobility mapping conducted in border areas to identify risk corridors.
• VRAM risk assessments conducted to identify high-threat hazards.
Qualitative Findings:
• Faster information flow improved rapid decision-making at national level.
• Digitalization reduced paper-based errors and enhanced outbreak verification accuracy.
• Closed the operational gap between region → national PHEOC → laboratory confirmation.
• Strengthened collaboration between human health, animal health, and border authorities.
• Improved early warning and situational awareness.
Innovative Contribution to Policy, Practice, or Research
• First national-scale implementation of digital public health surveillance in Ethiopia.
• Integrates indicator-based surveillance, event-based surveillance (EIOS), and PoE surveillance into a single system.
• Introduced real-time data dashboards for rapid outbreak analytics.
• Strengthened national capacity for epidemic intelligence, a major shift from reactive to proactive response.
• Improved cross-sectoral collaboration between human and animal health partners (MoH, EPHI, FAO, WHO, AHI, IOM).
• Demonstrated how digital systems can be used during real outbreaks (mpox, cholera, measles, cVDPV2).
• Provides a scalable model for digital surveillance in low-resource, high-mobility settings.
• Supports future policy shifts toward unified digital health security systems.
• Offers evidence for national adoption of digital platforms under revised IDSR and IHR frameworks.
Biography:
To be updated shortly..
