Digital and technological innovation in vector-borne disease surveillance to predict, detect, and control climate-driven outbreaks

Summary: Vector-borne diseases are particularly sensitive to changes in weather and climate. Timely warnings from surveillance systems can help to detect and control outbreaks of infectious disease, facilitate effective management of finite resources, and contribute to knowledge generation, response...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Caitlin Pley, MB, Megan Evans, MSc, Rachel Lowe, PhD, Hugh Montgomery, ProfMDRes, Sophie Yacoub, PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-10-01
Series:The Lancet Planetary Health
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519621001418
Description
Summary:Summary: Vector-borne diseases are particularly sensitive to changes in weather and climate. Timely warnings from surveillance systems can help to detect and control outbreaks of infectious disease, facilitate effective management of finite resources, and contribute to knowledge generation, response planning, and resource prioritisation in the long term, which can mitigate future outbreaks. Technological and digital innovations have enabled the incorporation of climatic data into surveillance systems, enhancing their capacity to predict trends in outbreak prevalence and location. Advance notice of the risk of an outbreak empowers decision makers and communities to scale up prevention and preparedness interventions and redirect resources for outbreak responses. In this Viewpoint, we outline important considerations in the advent of new technologies in disease surveillance, including the sustainability of innovation in the long term and the fundamental obligation to ensure that the communities that are affected by the disease are involved in the design of the technology and directly benefit from its application.
ISSN:2542-5196