With the onset of the new year in 2022, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has inaugurated the e-platform for the public health care system known as the “SPHERE” and the Digital Epidemiological Control Centre (DECC) to have adequate surveillance and management for epidemics. It is a unified national database that promotes the prevention of epidemics by sharing and exchanging the necessary information at a state level and globally as well, to bring the health care sector back to its status quo.
This was unveiled at the three-day Arab Health 2022 exhibition and conference which majorly focused on curbing the rampant spread of COVID-19 and any other future epidemics and public health care crises with advanced technology and digital tools. This would not only track the trends in COVID-19 growth and other epidemics but also include the reports of imminent communicable diseases, pathological syndromes, chemical poisoning cases, injuries, and all vaccination records.
The SPHERE is an integrated electronic system for public health monitoring that would provide for early signs and also track all the events that would eventually lead up to public health disruption. It would monitor the current trends in health amongst the public and would create an integrated database on the occurrence, treatment, and management of cases of the disease as well as real-time tracking of the cases. The diseases would detect the cases early on using artificial intelligence and smart prediction tools and take actions to curb and deter the spread of disease amongst the public. This will enable the DECC to work effectively by using the predictive tools to mitigate the spread of any disease.
Apart from monitoring the trends in the healthcare sector and tracking and recording all necessary information, the new public service system would also help evaluate the basis and standards, which would help in the development of public health policies and strategies. This is being implemented to accelerate the robust epidemiological investigation system of the UAE and its high laboratory capabilities. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a lesson, SPHERE is now being used for analysis, identifying patterns and calculating relevant trends in the diseases suffered by the public based on the latest data so that potential future threats can be avoided.
With the challenges posed by the pandemic during the last two years, it has been readily realized that shortcomings in the healthcare industry cannot be fought without keeping a readily available database as it can provide tools that would help manage community responses during such crises.
The new platform SPHERE would not only target the health cadres in government institutions but would also come to the aid of private healthcare organizations. These progressive steps not only help the government in maintaining proper order and public health in society but also protect its citizens from all potential threats and ensure they have a better and sustainable lifestyle.
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