15 August 2017 – WHO Egypt, in collaboration with Communicable Disease Control Department in the Ministry of Health and Population, organized a first advocacy meeting for hospitals enrolled in the surveillance system in the presence of the Head of the Central Directorate of Preventive Affairs and general directors and surveillance teams, on 5 August in Alexandria.

The meeting aimed to present available epidemiological and laboratory data generated from the surveillance system and to highlight technical and financial challenges encountered during the establishment process, as well as success stories and achievements. In addition to, some precious recommendations were concluded to strengthen the surveillance system and to ensure its sustainability.  At the end of the meeting, the best performing surveillance officers and sites in the surveillance in 2016, received a certificate of honour.

The sentinel sites surveillance system started in 2016 in 6 governorates as a result of joint work between WHO Egypt and the Communicable Disease Control Department.

Reported cases from the national routine surveillance, before 2016, were clinically suspected cases without laboratory confirmation. It raised the real need to initiate laboratory-based sentinel surveillance system in order to provide quality data necessary for studying the burden of disease caused by each causative organism and to assist evidence-based decision-making for the introduction of new vaccines.