Open AccessNotifiable diseases: Testing and treating every case to get ahead of the curve
Author(s) -
Lamy Marie,
Chebbi Amita,
Datta Rittika,
Hein Phone Si,
Mercado Chris Erwin G.,
Mellor Steve,
Qi Gao,
Clark Geoff
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
asia and the pacific policy studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 2050-2680
DOI - 10.1002/app5.331
Subject(s) - malaria , infectious disease (medical specialty) , legislature , psychological intervention , disease surveillance , disease , medicine , business , development economics , political science , economics , immunology , law , pathology , psychiatry
This article explains how making a disease notifiable by law is a core component of a robust and well‐functioning health system. Mechanisms to rapidly detect and report existing or emerging infectious diseases in a timely manner are key to disease control and elimination. Using malaria in Asia‐Pacific as a case in point, we explore different policy considerations involved in making malaria a notifiable disease. These include the timing of legislative changes at different stages of elimination, investing in adequate infrastructure for a robust surveillance system that can support targeted interventions, and the importance of involving all sectors in the delivery of malaria services to detect, report and respond to every case. The article explains how frameworks to report on notifiable diseases, in this case malaria, contribute to improved regional health security.