The Ministry of Health, through its Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit (EDC), successfully conducted a two-day capacity-building workshop on Event-Based Surveillance (EBS) from December 1st to 2nd, 2025. This important training, supported by the Africa CDC, is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen The Gambia’s national surveillance architecture and ensure timely detection of public health threats.
The workshop brought together more than 20 key personnel drawn from the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), the Ministry’s Call Centre, and other relevant units engaged in epidemic preparedness and response. Over the course of two days, participants were taken through critical concepts such as epidemic intelligence, event signal detection, verification processes, reporting mechanisms, and rapid risk assessment. Practical exercises and simulations enabled participants to apply EBS principles to real-life scenarios, helping to build stronger linkages between field reporting, laboratory systems, and the national emergency operations platform.
Event-Based Surveillance plays an essential role in modern public health systems by complementing indicator-based surveillance with faster, flexible detection of unusual health events from a wide range of sources, including communities, media alerts, healthcare workers, and digital platforms.
This training represents a significant advancement in The Gambia’s commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). Strengthening EBS capability is a key component of the country’s efforts to build resilient early warning systems, improve epidemic intelligence, and enhance overall emergency preparedness.
