International Data Reporting
Countries are encouraged to report a number of datasets for various diseases to different international organizations every year. To help reduce the disease reporting burden on national governments, GARC has been working with other international organizations on the development of a mechanism whereby select rabies data - that has been entered into the Rabies Epidemiological Bulletin (REB) - can be shared with the relevant international organizations. This has been done for two reasons:
1) Reduce the burden of reporting: We understand that government officials are inundated with multiple tasks for various different diseases and public health issues. Data reporting can often be cumbersome and challenging, especially when being required to report to multiple organizations. Therefore, GARC is working with the Tripartite (WHO, OIE and FAO) as well as other organizations and networks, to reduce the reporting burden by using the Rabies Epidemiological Bulletin as a central reporting database from where the relevant information is shared to other international organizations like the WHO and FAO.
2) Prevent inconsistent data reporting: Studies and analyses have demonstrated that there are discrepancies in the data being reported to different international organizations. This means that the data reported to different organizations is sometimes different and not consistent. By using the Rabies Epidemiological Bulletin (REB) as a central data platform and disseminating the relevant information to other international organizations, we can help to ensure that the same data is reported across all organizations.
Additional reading - scientific publications
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory
Government focal persons are now able to send the data that is routinely collected on the Rabies Epidemiological Bulletin (REB) directly to the WHO in order to report their data in a timely manner. To do this, GARC has worked closely with the WHO to develop and implement a “Data Sharing App” into the REB that allows the designated rabies focal person to easily send the required data, in the correct format, to the WHO. This means that once the data has been entered into the REB, the focal person can send the required report to the WHO with a few easy clicks of the mouse, fulfilling their reporting needs!
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - RESOLAB data
The RESOLAB network is an FAO laboratory network in West and Central Africa that focusses on building laboratory capacity. Through our partnership with the FAO, we have added all of the RESOLAB data into the Rabies Epidemiological Bulletin (REB). This helps to ensure that data from across different partners, networks and organizations are available in a central location where it can be used to make data-driven decisions.
GARC continues to work with other partners and international organizations to help address data collection, surveillance, and reporting needs.