International Health Regulations Monitoring Tool

In collaboration with WHO, Global Public Health Informatics Program (GPHIP) developed a web-based International Health Regulations (IHR) portal that provides a one-stop shop for IHR tools and information to develop database reports and dynamic graphics. Users are able to provide IHR related information to WHO using the online tool which helps monitor a country’s capacity for meeting IHR (2005). View IHR Core Capacities Overview and Monitoring [1.8 MB, 55 pages].

Countries enter answers to a comprehensive set of questions regarding 8 core capacities:

• Legislation Policy
• Coordination
• Surveillance
• Response
• Preparedness
• Risk Communication
• Human Resource Capacity
• Laboratory

Countries also respond to questions concerning the following hazards:

• Zoonotic Events
• Food Safety Events
• Chemical Events
• Radiation Emergencies.

The online tool also provides a Country Score Card Report.

Global Health Informatics Community of Practice

GPHIP provides leadership and coordination support for a large group of informatics and global health experts around the world. The group’s mission is to improve global health outcomes through application of evidence-based informatics best-practices.

Activities:

• Conduct focus groups among informatics and public health experts to determine an informatics agenda for global health
• Foster development of collaborative projects among the community

Public Health Task Force

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has added the development of uniform guidance that facilitates harmonization of health system architectures and standards to the tasks of the ISO Technical Committee on Health Informatics (TC 215). The Public Health Task Force (PHTF) emerged out of increasing interest of ISO TC 215 in assisting low- and middle-resource countries to harmonize health systems architecture. This facilitates health information captured at any point in the health system to be utilized for public health decision-making activities at local, national or global levels in support of national and global IHR (2005) requirements.

As a WHO-Collaborating Center for Public Health Informatics, CDC supports WHO in developing a data bank called “Strengthening Interoperability of the Global Health Observatory through Data and Reporting Services and Indicator and Metadata Registry”.

A key product of the observatory includes a new portal that provides a single point of entry to global health priorities, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), women’s health, chronic and acute disease burden, tobacco-use prevention and cessation, and road safety. Other global health diseases and priorities to be highlighted by the portal include tuberculosis, malaria, meningitis, environmental health, maternal health, child health, health equity, urban health, health systems, non-communicable diseases, etc.).

As of March 2012, CDC GPHIP administers the only Collaborating Center for Public Health Informatics.