Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme

• The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme has been activated as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in assistance with the World Bank, in 2004.
• It continued as the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) during 12th Plan (2012–17) under the National Health Mission with a domestic budget.
• Under it, a Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) at Delhi, State Surveillance Units (SSU) at all State/Union Territories (UTs) head quarters and District Surveillance Units (DSU) at all Districts have been established.

Objectives:

• To strengthen/maintain decentralized laboratory based and IT enabled disease surveillance systems for epidemic prone diseases to monitor disease trends.
• To detect and respond to outbreaks in the early rising phase through trained Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).

Programme Components:

• Integration and decentralization of surveillance activities through establishment of surveillance units at Centre, State and District level.
• Human Resource Development – Training of State Surveillance Officers (SSOs), District Surveillance Officers (DSOs), RRT and other medical and paramedical staff on principles of disease surveillance.
• Use of Information Communication Technology for collection, collation, compilation, analysis and dissemination of data.
• Strengthening of public health laboratories.
• Inter sectoral Coordination for zoonotic diseases.
• Helps in Controlling the Disease Outbreak:
• Data is collected on epidemic prone diseases on a weekly basis.
• The weekly data gives information on the disease trends and seasonality of diseases.
• The information is collected on three specified reporting formats, namely “S” (suspected cases), “P” (presumptive cases) and “L” (laboratory confirmed cases) filled by Health Workers, Clinicians and Laboratory staff respectively.
• Whenever there is a rising trend of illnesses in any area, it is investigated by the RRT to diagnose and control the outbreak.

IDSP Portal:

The IDSP portal is a one stop portal which has facilities for data entry, view reports, outbreak reporting, data analysis, training modules and resources related to disease surveillance.

Core’s contraction: On slowing economy

Context

# Output in the eight core industries suffered an overall contraction for a third straight month in May, shrinking 23.4%, as the pandemic-induced lockdown kept large parts of the economy shuttered, the Commerce Ministry’s provisional figures show.

Core Sector Data

# Of the eight, all but one posted declines in production compared with a year earlier, with six sectors witnessing double-digit drops.

# Except fertilizers, all other sectors have shown decline.

# Steel and cement were the worst hit, slumping 48.4% and 22.2%, respectively, as construction activity and infrastructure projects remained mostly stalled.

# Refinery products, with the largest weight in the index contributing 28%, contracted 21.3% as the curbs on vehicular movement stymied demand for automobile fuels.

# And crude oil and natural gas continued their slide adding to the problems dogging India’s hydrocarbon exploration and production industry.

# Coal production also fell for a second straight month, declining 14%, as the lack of demand for electricity from the nation’s factories depressed power production as well as the need for the key thermal plant fuel.

# Output of electricity fell 15.6%, a slight improvement from April’s 23% slump, aided by the partial easing of restrictions and peak summer consumption by households.

# The only silver lining came from the fertilizer industry, as production rose 7.5% reversing the slump seen in the preceding two months and signalling robust activity in the agricultural sector at the start of the Kharif season.

# A promising and early start to this year’s monsoon bodes well for the crucial farm income-dependent rural economy.

# The above-average quantity and improved spatial distribution of rainfall in June have spurred a sharp jump in kharif sowing, with the area sown as on June 26 more than doubling compared with a year earlier to 315.6 lakh hectares.

# Also, there is a danger to the farm sector, especially in western, central and northern India this year from locust swarms.

# The Food and Agriculture Organization had in its June 27 update warned that India would need to remain on high alert through July for the possible arrival of swarms from northern Africa.

# The latest PMI data from researcher IHS Markit also paints a less than promising outlook for manufacturing, which contracted again in June albeit at a softer pace.

Bostwana

• It has the world’s largest number of elephants at about 1.3 lacs.
• Okavango Delta is located here
• Recently over 350 elephants died and the causes are unknown which can be due to anthrax.