Recent large-scale epidemics and pandemics have demonstrated the importance of engaging communities as partners in preventing, detecting and responding to public health emergencies. Community-based surveillance (CBS), which relies on communities to report public health information, can be an important part of effective, inclusive and accountable responses to humanitarian and public health emergencies, as well as long-term disease control.
This brief offers key considerations for CBS programming to guide policymakers, public health officials, civil society organisations, health workers, researchers, advocates, and others interested in health surveillance. It is based on a rapid review of CBS guidance and social science literature. It was written by Jennifer Palmer and Diane Duclos (both London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, LSHTM) with contributions by Mariam Sharif (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, EHESS). It was reviewed by Ruwan Ratnayake (LSHTM), Maysoon Dahab (LSHTM) and Luisa Enria (LSHTM). This brief is the responsibility of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP).
For more information, see our case study exploring the 2018–22 implementation of a national community-based surveillance (CBS) programme in Sudan: Strengthening Health Information Surveillance: Implementing Community-Based Surveillance in Sudan.
This publication is available in English, French and Arabic.