Surveillance and research for the innovation and sustainability of public health actions

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SUMMARY The Center for Health Studies at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (CHS/UVG) has prepared this proposal that includes studies in two project categories: A, surveillance; and B, research of risk factors, burden or transmission. A total of 8 sub-projects are proposed, 5 and 3 respectively under the surveillance and research categories. These subprojects respond to infectious diseases with local and global relevance: malaria, neglected vector-borne, zoonotic, and maternal and childhood, and emergent diseases and heath events, respectively. The five subprojects proposed under the surveillance category address surveillance needs locally from different perspectives: low transmission settings for vector transmitted diseases that have achieved transmission interruption or are working toward this goal, like onchocerciasis and Chagas Disease; zoonotic and other neglected diseases at the human-animal interface affecting rural populations in remote areas, like influenza A, brucellosis and leishmaniosis; congenital diseases that require an early treatment to avert severe outcomes in infants, as an area of potential expansion from diseases like Chagas to other emergent like Zika, ; severe acute infections that are responsible for a significant proportion of morbidity and mortality, such as respiratory, febrile and enteric diseases; and broader early detection of general health events as an early warning for potential outbreaks. For the research subprojects, we have identified 3 research problems in which we have an advantage to implement studies to fill knowledge gaps: leptospirosis and its association with chronic kidney disease; development of novel tools for integrated vector control management, and identification of etiology specific attributable fractions of respiratory and enteric diseases in childhood. We expect that results will contribute in two major areas of public health (A) to strengthen surveillance for congenital Chagas diseases, onchocerciasis, acute respiratory, enteric, and febrile infections, priority zoonotic diseases, and health events contributing to the local and global prevention and control initiatives, and (B) to identify novel and improved interventions to be tested for the control and prevention of leptospirosis, chronic kidney disease, integrated vector management, and respiratory and enteric infectious diseases. Although we build this proposal on previous collaborative work with US CDC and the National Ministry of Health (MOH) for over almost 20 years within the Global Disease Detection (GDD), we will aim to overcome limitations form our past work by including three cross cutting approaches: data and resource sharing, capacity strengthening within the local public health institutions, and transfer of results into actions.