The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Jordan, has concluded a workshop on event‑based surveillance in Amman.

The workshop, supported by the Pandemic Fund, marked an important step towards strengthening Jordan’s public health intelligence by expanding the existing event‑based surveillance  into an all‑hazards, multisectoral system aligned with the One Health approach.

Event‑based surveillance is a core component of public health intelligence, supporting the early detection of unusual health events and emerging risks from diverse information sources.

In Jordan, event‑based surveillance has primarily focused on health facility‑based surveillance for respiratory diseases, which has contributed to the improved detection and reporting of priority respiratory events. However, this focus has been limited in scope and in the information sources it draws on.

The workshop aimed to review and update the existing event‑based surveillance guidelines to expand their coverage beyond respiratory diseases and health facilities. Participants worked together to develop an expanded event‑based surveillance framework that captures signals related to infectious, zoonotic, environmental and other public health threats, drawing information from a broad range of sources, including veterinary services, community observations, media, schools and environmental monitoring.