The role of media-based surveillance system for public health events in Peru

Abstract

Objectives. The objective of this study was to describe events and outbreaks identified by Media-Based Surveillance System for Public Health Events between 2013 and 2015. Further, to determine the percentage of events or outbreaks that were not identifing by regular surveillance systems. Materials and methods. We analyzed the data collected from Media-Based Surveillance System for Public Health Events of the National Center for Epidemiology and Disease Control. This surveillance system records news from the written media, radio, television, and Internet in Peru on a daily basis; classifies them according to the type of event; determines whether the event was registered, investigated, and confirmed; and evaluates whether the news was alarmist, informative, or educational. Results. Overall, 49.4% of the events reported had not been identified by epidemiological surveillance systems at the local, regional, or national level. In addition, 17.4% of the analyzed news was alarmist. Conclusion. This type of surveillance has a high potential to identify outbreaks and/or health events not identified by regular surveillance systems and should thus be strengthened. In addition, the results of this tool may help to improve decision-making.