UAE launches new e-platform for surveillance of future pandemics

The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has launched an e-public health system called Sphere for epidemiological surveillance and management that can be linked at the state level.

Sphere was launched during the ongoing Arab Health 2022 exhibition in Dubai, where MoHAP is one of the key participants.

Through Sphere, the ministry aims to provide an integrated system for early monitoring, follow-up, and management of events affecting public health and strengthen linkages with the government and private health sector stakeholders.

It includes the reporting of communicable diseases, pathological syndromes, chemical poisoning cases, injuries, and vaccination records.

Sphere provides a unified national database that enhances disease prevention, by sharing and exchanging information locally, regionally and globally.

It has been designed to play a key role in disease surveillance to achieve a rapid response for combating communicable diseases.

In addition to monitoring data and information to evaluate the burden of health risks, prioritise public health actions, and monitor the impact of control measures, the new system supports research that helps determine the bases and standards for the development of public health policies and strategies, according to state-run news agency WAM.

Abdullah Ahli, acting assistant under-secretary for the Support Services Sector said that the UAE has a robust epidemiological investigation system and high laboratory capabilities.

“A global challenge like the current pandemic can never be faced without utilising technologies, and data is an important basis for fighting future epidemics. While pandemics are moving and spreading quickly like what we’ve seen with Covid-19, data can move even faster, providing us tools to manage community response during epidemics,” said Ahli

Ali Al Ajmi, director of the Digital Health Department, added, “Sphere has a lot of features, such as epidemiological analysis, identifying patterns and seasons of diseases, calculating relevant indicators and using them to make decisions based on evidence, and creating epidemiological maps to address potential threats in the future.”