Objectives

The core of this project is to: (i) better understand anthropogenic ecological changes responsible for the emergence of infectious diseases, and (ii) measure the health risks for local communities as a result of improvement of surveillance systems and strengthening of national and regional cooperation.

Government agencies, which are responsible for health assessment, policy-making, regulations, and health quality assurance, require an ongoing update on the impacts of the ecosystem changes induced by the economic development on population health. Thus public health programs or interventions can be tested and implemented to reduce the health risks.

Surveillance systems could be improved or installed in sensitive geographic areas. Inter-disciplinary collaboration should be strengthened between national and regional stakeholders so that public health considerations are incorporated into the development process.

As a consequence, the specific objectives are to:

Decipher the major ecological mechanisms responsible for emergence of infectious diseases;

Assess the actual risk for local population health and benefits of improved surveillance systems;

Release appropriate recommendations for implementing public health interventions and effective surveillance systems;

Provide validated methodological tools to be transferred to other sites;

Contribute to reinforce collaboration between major national and regional stakeholders (National Partners, WHO, Institut Pasteur International Network, etc.).