South-East Asia Regional Conference on Epidemiology

12 | <strong>South</strong>-<strong>East</strong> <strong>Asia</strong> <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Epidemiology
opportunities for application of epidemiology to confront emerging public health challenges in the
era of globalization where the pace of geographic movement of people, products, and information has
become quite fast.
Epidemiology needs to move beyond the traditional biomedical sciences based approaches to
the study of socio-cultural determinants, impact of economic crisis, disasters, and climate change.
Participatory epidemiology has potential for mobilizing community action; hence, public access to
available data is crucial first step for harnessing the power of epidemiologic analysis. Communication
of epidemiologic research findings to policy makers is a challenge which needs to be overcome by
building capacity of researchers, policy makers, and civil society for formulation of evidence informed
public policies. Uses of epidemiology in identification of needs and priorities for resource allocation,
planning, monitoring and evaluation of public health programmes, i.e., the managerial epidemiology,
has potential for strengthening public health and primary health care system.
In several parallel sessions, specific issues related to application of epidemiology to the prevention
and control of non communicable diseases, preparedness and response to public health emergencies,
acute diarrhea and pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS, pandemic H1N1 were discussed to
find solutions to these continuing public health problems in <strong>South</strong>-<strong>East</strong> <strong>Asia</strong> Region. Several ‘best
practices’ of epidemiology being used for prevention and control of these diseases were shared in the
conference.
Capacity building in epidemiology was identified as an important and urgent issue. Several skill
building sessions were conducted for writing research proposals and for communicating research
findings to scientific journals, specifically for the young epidemiologists working in the academic
institutions, surveillance and public health programs.
Field epidemiology training programs functioning in the Region were reviewed. Expansion of
these programs to several institutions while maintaining the quality was emphasized to meet the
training requirement of large number of epidemiologists in the Region. Concerns were expressed
about inadequate availability of skilled public health specialists, especially epidemiologists in the
health services. Development of career structures at various level of health care delivery system was
identified as an incentive for attracting talented workforce to epidemiology.
In view of the need for promoting evidence informed policies, strengthening of the surveillance
system for planning, managing, and evaluating the effectiveness of public health programs,
epidemiological thinking needs to be promoted in the Region. The conference concluded that all
member states, in partnership with professional associations, development partners, and civil society
organizations should promote epidemiology at all levels to strengthen health system so as to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals in the agreed time frame.
In summary, Epidemiology is the foundation from which public health decisions are made, implemented
and evaluated. The science of epidemiology, by definition, has human beings at its centre and its
applications have universal reach.
The <strong>South</strong>-<strong>East</strong> <strong>Asia</strong> <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Epidemiology unequivocally reiterated that principles
and practice of epidemiology have:
– facilitated innumerable public health actions in the recorded past starting from the times of
John Snow,
– continue to do so in contemporary times of pandemics and paradigm shifts in health scenario
including rise of noncommunicable diseases and