ABSTRACT:
Description Communicating information to reduce public health threats is a function of public health surveillance systems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the CDC Foundation currently work with 13 African countries to establish and strengthen public health bulletins (PHBs) to serve as their government’s primary communication channel for disseminating information to prevent and manage public health threats. The CDC Foundation has also launched a new technical resource hub, phbhub.org, to empower publication and dissemination of PHBs. Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, and Uganda will present on their experiences in establishing governance structures and the approaches they take to produce and disseminate PHBs. Each country is unique and has valuable lessons to share. Cote d’Ivoire’s PHB is newly established, and its presentation will feature processes put in place to facilitate collaboration among government health agencies. South Africa’s PHB revised its standard operating procedures to emphasize accessibility and timeliness. For example, each surveillance article is published as soon as the editing and review processes are completed. Uganda uses its PHB to train Field Epidemiology Training Program residents in scientific writing by giving them the responsibility of producing a PHB issue. Each case study will feature governance of PHBs, production and dissemination processes of each issue and highlight the unique features mentioned above. Desired Outcome Participants of the side event will understand the purpose of a PHB and learn about the various approaches to establishing one. They will also learn about available resources their government can use to establish a PHB. For those participants from countries with an existing PHB, they will learn how to support it.