রোগতত্ত্ব, রোগ নিয়ন্ত্রণ ও গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউট

Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) is a unique public health initiative designed to enable early detection and timely response to public health threats and strengthen national outbreak and epidemic preparedness.

CBS in Bangladesh has started its journey as a unique initiative through the collaboration between Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), under the Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Response (EPPR) pillar of the Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PPP) Programme of the Disaster and Climate Risk Management Department (DCRM) of BDRCS, with German Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) providing technical and financial support from the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).

This initiative officially started with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BDRCS and IEDCR in August 2023. Given BDRCS’s capacity to reach vulnerable and hard-to-access populations through engagement of its trained community volunteers, and IEDCR’s role as the national hub for disease surveillance and outbreak response, their collaboration has created a responsive CBS system, in which unusual health events and epidemic-prone diseases are detected early and addressed promptly.

The pilot initially focused on urban settings, covering two wards in Dhaka South City Corporation, five wards in Rajshahi City Corporation, and five wards in Sylhet City Corporation. Following the completion of the PPP, CBS has been sustained with continued support from the IFRC, the Norwegian Red Cross, and the Swiss Red Cross. Building on the urban pilot, CBS has expanded into rural settings to further test and refine the model. The current rural implementation covers four unions in Puthia upazila and two unions in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi District. Additionally, the Danish Red Cross is supporting the extension of previous initiatives into a new union in Gowainghat Upazila (Sylhet District), while maintaining operations in the established wards of Dhaka South City Corporation and Sylhet City Corporation.

Through the joint efforts of BDRCS, IEDCR, and partner technical teams, CBS is now operational in these areas using real-time data collection through a customized mobile application. The system currently supports early detection of six priority events: influenza-like illness, acute watery diarrhea, acute jaundice syndrome, suspected dengue fever, and any unusual health events in humans or animals.

Objectives of CBS:

• To contribute to earlier detection and notification of potentially serious and epidemic-prone risks/events, enabling timely response and control,

• To improve the effectiveness of epidemic response operations with community-level real-time data to inform monitoring and targeted control actions.

Area Coverage

At present, 173 Community Volunteers of the BDRCS are actively collecting CBS data from the following targeted rural and urban areas under the CBS project. Piloting of the rural areas is being planned with the support of IFRC, Norwegian Red Cross, and Swiss Red Cross.

CBS in Rural Sites

CBS in Urban Sites

The initial pilot areas, which focused on urban settings, are detailed below:

* currently operational sites.

The following cases are reported from the communities under CBS

Disclaimer - Suspected cases are not confirmed cases. Confirmation requires verification by a medical professional.