Context: Recently, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme has been activated as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
About Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme

• It was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in assistance with the World Bank, in 2004.
• It continued as the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) during 12th Plan (2012–17) under the National Health Mission with a domestic budget.
• Under it, a Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) at Delhi, State Surveillance Units (SSU) at all State/Union Territories (UTs) headquarters and District Surveillance Units (DSU) at all Districts have been established.
• Its main objective is to strengthen/maintain decentralized laboratory based and IT enabled disease surveillance systems for epidemic prone diseases to monitor disease trends.
• To detect and respond to outbreaks in the early rising phase through trained Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).

About the Components of Programme

• The Integration and decentralization of surveillance activities through establishment of surveillance units at Centre, State and District level.
• The Human Resource Development is Training the State Surveillance Officers (SSOs), District Surveillance Officers (DSOs), RRT and other medical and paramedical staff on principles of disease surveillance.
• The use of Information Communication Technology for collection, collation, compilation, analysis and dissemination of data.By strengthening of public health laboratories and Inter Sectoral Coordination for zoonotic Diseases.

Significance

• The Data is collected on epidemic prone diseases on a weekly basis. Its weekly data gives information on the disease trends and seasonality of diseases.
• Its information is collected on three specified reporting formats, namely “S” (suspected cases), “P” (presumptive cases) and “L” (laboratory confirmed cases) filled by Health Workers, Clinicians and Laboratory staff respectively.
• Whenever there is a rising trend of illnesses in any area, it is investigated by the RRT to diagnose and control the outbreak.
• IDSP Portal: It is a one stop portal which has facilities for data entry, view reports, outbreak reporting, data analysis, training modules and resources related to disease surveillance.