The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, University of Washington, in collaboration with partner governments, designed this fellowship program to improve people’s health and well-being through digital technologies, and help countries better respond to public health emergencies, the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek said.
The first IDASH cohort is composed of 20 mid- to senior-level technical, analytical, and public health staff working at the national level in public health informatics or data science from Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The program kicked off with an in-person workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia April 3-15.
Over the course of 12 months, fellows will identify and develop a collaborative project. They will receive mentorship, and establish regional communities of practice to ensure collaboration, share lessons learned and best practices, and establish linkages for future programming needs that span multiple countries. IDASH provides the opportunity to link learning to experience, and enables the application of new skills, knowledge, and techniques acquired from the training in a real-life context.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of public health data systems that provide real-time, accurate data to ensure timely intervention and dissemination of accurate information. IDASH fellows will contribute to a workforce that is prepared to detect, prevent, and respond to future global health threats.
Priorities identified for first IDASH fellows cohort include:
• Developing a united business-intelligence platform for disease surveillance data analysis for Rayon-, Oblast- and Republican-level actors (Kyrgyz Republic)
• Automating data analysis and visualization for Hepatitis C clinical cascades (Georgia)
• Expanding digital immunization registries beyond COVID-19 (Kazakhstan)
• Advancing an electronic non-communicable disease reporting system (Ukraine)
• Developing spatial analysis modules for multi-disease surveillance and response (Uzbekistan)
Source: Aki Press