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MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS

EpiSouth website and Bulletin
The EpiSouth website can be considered both an output of the project and the mean by which most of the results are disseminated to the international audience. The web-site also publishes relevant guidelines, documents, and policies on topics of interest for the project and makes available useful links with national and international organisations.

The website is structured in two areas.

  • A public portal devoted to the dissemination of the information collected and the results generated by the EpiSouth network to all interested people who visit the site.
  • An access-restricted Network Working Area as a permanent communication tool to support the communication among project participants.

Moreover, the EpiSouth Electronic Bulletin summarises the information presented in the website quarterly and is being sent by e-mail to selected national institutions, as well as to European and International institutions and to people who register for this service.

Finally, the Network has been presented and promoted in several international events.

EpiSouth Networking and Directory of Public Health Institutes
An effective collaboration among the Mediterranean countries enables to have a wider and clearer picture of the peculiar context in this region, EpiSouth being one of the few existing projects with a pure Mediterranean focus. It also identifies possible areas of significant gaps in public health where new funds need to be directed.

Communication among partners is the best way to react and respond to possible health threats, and the dissemination of the information to those who need to know will enable a prompt action. In this regard, the network of epidemiologists, created in the context of EpiSouth, represents a vital source of information for the European Union as well as for the participating countries to further strengthen their capacity to early and effectively respond to possible health threats and to more efficiently contain the further spread of infectious diseases.

A directory of all the Institutes involved in EpiSouth is available in the web-site.

Training
Based on a training needs assessment, three Training Modules of one week each have been organised and delivered to around 100 people belonging to the Institutions of EpiSouth Network.

The analysis of results of the training needs assessment, the teaching material from the modules, and a directory of training courses and fellowships of interest to Episouth countries are available in the Web Site.

Finally, a strategic document on training has been produced.

EpiSouth Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (e-WEB) and Cross-border Epidemic Intelligence
The Episouth Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (e-WEB) reports new health events occurring outside and inside EpiSouth Area that may have implications on EpiSouth populations. In fact, the international public health intelligence comes as a complement to regular monitoring of national surveillance and aims to identify health threats that can potentially affect these populations. Epidemic intelligence, based on already collected and circulating information, consists in the sorting out, verification, analysis and eventually dissemination of information.

Access-restricted section on the website is used to allow rapid circulation of information, to offer a space for discussion and to share alerts originating from EpiSouth partners and restricted only to partners. In fact, all participating countries should be able to communicate their alert of potential common interest to the other participating countries.

Moreover, a strategic document on Epidemic Intelligence and Cross-Border has been produced.

Vaccine-preventable diseases and migrant populations
A country based assessment survey for vaccine preventable diseases and migrants among participating countries has been carried out and the results on country specific migrant groups, organization and performance of their immunizations and problems faced by the national public health system in this context are presented in a specific report.

Moreover, a strategic document on vaccine preventable diseases and migrant populations has been produced with guidelines for exchanging information on VPD among migrants and recommendations for improving the access to immunizations of migrant groups.

Epidemiology and preparedness to cross-border emerging zoonoses
A directory with accurate contacts of human (HPH) and veterinary public health (VPH) officials for specific diseases has been made available for strengthening the communication and collaboration between the Mediterranean countries regarding exchanging information on emerging zoonotic infections with possibility of cross border transmission.

Moreover, a strategic plan featuring indices for the description of epidemiology and monitoring in the area of a selected list of zoonoses (Brucellosis, Leishmaniasis, Campylobacteriosis, Rabies, West Nile Virus) and a strategic document on risk assessment methods for cross-border transmission of zoonoses and mechanism to exchange information between HPH and VPH officers on possible outbreaks have been produced.