PESHAWAR, Aug 10: A mission comprising representatives of the World Health Organization and the Centre for Disease Control, United States, is planning to develop a health surveillance system in the province.

According to WHO representative Dr Faizullah Kakar, the mission will visit each province to assess three areas of public health surveillance - communicable disease surveillance, vital registration system with a focus on maternal and infant mortality surveillance andnon-communicable and behavioural risk factor surveillance.

US Communicable Disease Control Centre Assistant Surgeon-General Dr Stephen M. Ostroff said that following the assessment an action plan would be developed to strengthen the system of disease surveillance in the provinces.

The mission was given presentations on the existing disease surveillance on Tuesday. The programme manager of the tuberculosis control programme informed the mission that there were three quarterly reporting formats covering finding and registration of new cases, treatment efficiency and cure rates and treatment outcomes.

He said lack of resource availability in districts, logistics and quality of sputum microscopy were some challenges faced by the programme. Manager of the HIV/Aids programme said most of its components had not been implemented yet as it was in its infancy.

The Expanded Programme of Immunization's deputy director said his team gathered information about eight diseases on monthly basis from all the districts. He said there was a system for monitoring acute flaccid paralysis cases in the province under the Polio Eradication Initiative.

Health Management Information System manager said monthly, yearly, immediate and feedback reports were produced at first care facility level. He talked about the setbacks the programme received in the wake of the devolution process and the constraints faced in its implementation.

The malaria programme manger said monthly and annual reports were prepared. The reproductive health and nutrition managers said they received monthly reports on safe motherhood indicators, which were funded by the World Food Programme.

The National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care manager also briefed the mission. The officials gave recommendations for improvement in the programmes. A discussion was held on the short comings of the disease surveillance system and ways to improve it.

WHO Emergency Medical Officer Dr Quaid Saeed said the mission would devise a health surveillance system to improve the scenario in the province.