Media Scanning as a Supplemntal tool to Disease Outbreak Reporting und)er IDSP-IndiaAn event based surveillance Project (IDSP).

ABSTRACT

Media scanning & verification cell (MSVC) was established on 24th July 2008 under IDSP at National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi for providing supplemental information on early detection of outbreaks in India so that a timely and an appropriate action can be taken. Since then the system is working efficiently and has detected many outbreaks before the conventional system in their incipient stages and helped in their containments at early stages. Media scanning & verification cell is an “Early Warning System” (EWS) that gathers preliminary reports of public health significance on a real time basis and immediately disseminate the information to the users electronically for verification. This unique system monitors Global and National Media sources such as National and Regional print media, news on internet, websites, news channels and news shared by partners like Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), Canada, WHO and other International and national agencies. Media scanning & verification cell is managed by trained Epidemiologists and Public Health Consultants working in Central Surveillance Unit of IDSP. The major part of work is manual with two rounds of screening by experts that fulfills issues regarding quality assurance.