Kant and Krishnan BMC Public Health 2010, 10(Suppl 1):S11 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/S1/S11 R E V I E W Information and communication technology in disease surveillance, India: a case study Lalit Kant*1†, Sampath K Krishnan2† BMC Public Health Open Access Abstract India has made appreciable progress and continues to demonstrate a strong commitment for establishing and operating a disease surveillance programme responsive to the requirements of the International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]). Within five years of its launch, India has effectively used modern information and communication technology for collection, storage, transmission and management of data related to disease surveillance and effective response. Terrestrial and/or satellite based linkages are being established within all states, districts, state-run medical colleges, infectious disease hospitals, and public health laboratories. This network enables speedy data transfer, video conferencing, training and e-learning for outbreaks and programme monitoring. A 24x7 call centre is in operation to receive disease alerts. To complement these efforts, a media scanning and verification cell functions to receive reports of early warning signals. During the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, the usefulness of the information and communication technology (ICT) network was well appreciated. India is using ICT as part of its Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) to help overcome the challenges in further expansion in hard-to-reach populations, to increase the involvement of the private sector, and to increase the use of other modes of communication like e-mail and voicemail. Background With the adoption of the International Health Regula- tions [IHR(2005)] by the World Health Organization (WHO), it has become obligatory for the Member States †These authors contributed equally to this work *Correspondence: lalitkant@icmr.org.in 1Division of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India Full list of author information is available at the end of the article to put in place requisite manpower, money and material to comply with the provisions of the regulation. Each signatory country is expected to achieve identiﬁed capabilities, including developing and maintaining core capacities to detect and respond to potential public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC) within its national borders. Use of modern tools of communication and international technology has helped to scale-up the rapid sharing of data. For rapid detection and response to any outbreak, natural or deliberate, a sensitive surveillance system is essential. A good communication system is the ‘brain’ of the surveillance system. It is the speed of communication which is most critical to contain or stamp out an outbreak, save lives, and prevent misery. It is challenging, however, to set up an eﬀective communication system, and even more so in a country as large, populous, and technologically and linguistically varied as India. India, with an estimated population of 1.15 billion in 2010, supports almost one ﬁfth of world’s population on only about 2.5 percent of its surface area [1]. India adds on an average about 22 million newborns to its popu- lation every year [1]. Population density is also high, with a national average of 312 people per square kilometre [2]. India has a very diverse population, speaking 325 recognized languages, making communication extremely challenging [3]. This ever-growing population is spread out over 28 states and 7 Union Territories ruled by parties with varying ideologies and developmental agenda. The Constitution of India provides autonomy to each state (federal structure), and lists out their responsibilities. Health has been identiﬁed as a state subject. There is thus a diﬀerential growth pattern of setting up and utilization of disease surveillance infra- structure. Under the health system there are a large number of disease control programmes, each with its own system of data gathering. Historically, these have been vertical programmes. With the launch of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project in 2004, an initiative has been undertaken to bring many of them under one roof [4]. © World Health Organization;licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article in the spirit of the BioMed Central Open Access Charter http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/charter/, without anywaiver of WHO’s privileges and immunities under international law, convention or agreement. This article should not be reproduced for use in association with the promotion of commercial products, services or any legal entity. There should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organisation or products. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s original URL.