Mr Armand Bejtullahu, Go.Data project lead at WHO, led the series of Go.Data trainings in Viet Nam (Photo: WHO)
Hanoi, 23 March 2020 – Viet Nam acquired new technology and skills for disease outbreak investigation as the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a series of training on Go.Data, an outbreak investigation tool for field data collection during outbreaks of infectious diseases and public health emergencies. The series of trainings, which ran during first two weeks of March 2020 in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, was part of WHO’s support to the country’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Participants of the trainings included epidemiologists, members of rapid response teams (RRTs) and other frontline workers during disease outbreaks. Go.Data includes functionality for case investigation, contact tracing and follow-up, and visualization of chains of transmission, including secure real-time data exchange. This would facilitate timely situation monitoring and response as investigations take place. The tool is also flexible enough so that response teams can tailor its functionality to a variety of outbreak scenarios or implement it for concurrent outbreaks.
“An efficient resource for data sharing and establishment of epidemiological links is key to the response to any disease outbreak. WHO, in collaboration with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), has made tremendous efforts in rendering tools, such as Go.Data, to countries, including Viet Nam, as they manage outbreaks of infectious diseases,” said Dr Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Viet Nam. “The introduction of Go.Data in the country is very timely and will hopefully bring into the table innovative solutions, especially as the country now faces COVID-19. We look forward to working further with the Ministry of Health and other partners to ensure effective use of this tool in support of our responders on the ground,” he continued.
Epidemiologists, members of rapid response teams (RRTs) and other frontline workers during disease outbreaks were among the participants of the Go.Data training. (Photo: WHO)
Apart from building the capacity of Viet Nam’s outbreak responders in utilizing this new outbreak investigation tool, WHO will continue to provide support in setting up the Go.Data system in the country and will stand ready to assist in the actual implementation, including in addressing practical issues.
WHO worked with GOARN to design, develop and deploy the Go.Data. GOARN is a collaboration of existing institutions and networks that pools human and technical resources for rapid identification, confirmation and response to outbreaks of international importance, including the COVID-19 outbreak. This comprehensive outbreak investigation tool is now being used in a number of countries and by development partners. To date, there have been 35 Go.Data installations in institutions and/or countries, including Viet Nam. Since January 2020 – in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak – 150 institutions in 92 countries have expressed interest in receiving the same support on this outbreak investigation tool.