Southeastern European Health Network (SEEHN) Communicable Diseases Surveillance: A Decade of Bridging Trust and Collaboration

Abstract

The communicable disease threats and changes that began emerging in south-east Europe in the early 1990s – after a decade of war and while political and health systems region-wide were undergoing dramatic changes – demanded a novel approach to infectious disease surveillance. Specifically, they called for an approach that was focused on cross-border collaboration and aligned with European Union standards and requirements. Thus, the Southeastern European Health network (SEEHN) was established in 2001 as a cooperative effort among the governments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In 2002, SEEHN initiated a communicable diseases project aimed at strengthening both national and regional surveillance systems with a focus on cross-border collaboration. Over time, SEEHN has nurtured growth of a regional fabric of SEE experts in communicable diseases surveillance and response who are able to discuss emerging issues and best practices at any time and without being constrained by the rigidity of traditional or existing systems. Main achievements to date include joint preparation of influenza pandemic preparedness plans at both national and regional levels and the introduction of molecular techniques into influenza surveillance laboratories region-wide. Here, we describe the history of the SEEHN communicable disease project; major activities and accomplishments; and future sustainability of the regional infectious disease surveillance network that has emerged and grown over the past decade.

Surveillance for Emerging Diseases with Multiplexed Point-of-Care Diagnostics

“…An extensive consideration of political and economic realities is essential to the success of biosurveillance systems and was identified as a part of the Rockefeller Foundation initiative promoting regional surveillance networks. 8,39 Descriptions, lessons learned, and suggestions of paths forward were provided by the Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network, 40 the East African Integrated Disease Surveillance Network, 41 the South-Eastern European Health Network, 42 the Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance, 43 the Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, 44 the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance, 45 and the REASAOLAB project involving clinical laboratories in West Africa. 46 One consistent issue with all of these efforts is how to sustain the long-term activity and continuity in training and interactions that is so crucial to the productivity and trust necessary for crisis response.…”

Infectious Diseases Burden and Surveillance: An Epidemiological Survey

“…These diseases include tuberculosis, West Neil fever, human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases. Much of this evolving disease burden began in the early 1990s [1]. The top three single agent/disease killers are HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria.…”

Creating a Global Dialogue on Infectious Disease Surveillance: Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Surveillance (CORDS)

“…Driven by that incentive and with the support and partnership of NTI, the Rockefeller Foundation, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Fondation Mérieux, and the Skoll Global Threats Fund, the leaders of six existing regional disease surveillance networks founded CORDS. The six networks, all of which are described in detail elsewhere in this issue (see also Table 1) are: Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network (MBDS) (15), East African Integrated Disease Surveillance Network (EAIDSNet) (16), South Eastern European Health Network (SEEHN) (17), Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS) (18), Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Disease Research (APEIR) (19), and Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) (20). During CORDS's early years, NTI served the role of interim secretariat; Fondation Mérieux provided a home in Annecy, France, for convening CORDS.…”