ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO — Project ECHO at The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center has launched an innovative initiative that aims to significantly strengthen infectious disease collaborative surveillance in seven African nations: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia.
Project ECHO and partners will support ministries of health and national public health institutes through learning and knowledge exchange to strengthen the detection and response to disease outbreaks — all while making the countries’ health systems stronger and more resilient.
The new collaborative surveillance initiative contributes to Project ECHO’s mission to democratize knowledge and expand access to best-practice health care around the world. The work is supported by a two-year, $2.2 million grant from the Gates Foundation.
“Health workers and public health professionals need up-to-date information to respond quickly and effectively to disease outbreaks when time is of the essence. We’re here to help bring them the training they need,” says Dr. Caroline Kisia, Project ECHO’s Africa director. “This work is incredibly urgent. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 242 outbreaks on the continent in 2024, a steep rise from previous years. If we contain outbreaks quickly, we reduce the risk of future epidemics.”
A Systems Approach to Disease Threats
Collaborative surveillance is a systematic public health approach that breaks down silos and integrates multi-sector data systems, governance, and financing to ensure that the right people can make quick, evidence-based decisions to prevent and respond to disease threats. The approach aims to strengthen capacity and collaboration within and beyond the health sector, aligned with emerging global guidance on collaborative surveillance.
ECHO’s approach to supporting collaborative surveillance harnesses the power of digital learning networks to offer streamlined and cost-effective training and mentoring for the public health officials who need it most. Working in partnership with in-country and regional public health partners, ECHO brings together experts and efforts across sectors to help partners respond to outbreaks earlier and more effectively.
As part of the initiative, each country will develop their own virtual community of practice in which they can exchange ideas and lessons on collaborative surveillance, supported by Project ECHO’s digital learning platform. Eventually, the program leads will connect in a multi-country ECHO community that will allow health officials to share their experiences across borders.
“Across Africa, ministries of health and frontline health workers are increasingly striking up important new collaborations to prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies,” says Peninah Munyua, the Gates Foundation’s senior program officer for surveillance in East and Southern Africa. “We’re excited to be supporting this initiative with Project ECHO because we believe it builds on existing efforts and has the potential to inform broader efforts across Africa.”
Building on a Solid Foundation
“The ECHO Model to strengthen disease surveillance is both powerful and incredibly cost effective,” says Dr. Katie Smallwood, public health surveillance lead at the World Health Organization’s Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin. “In a challenging global funding landscape, this work is indispensable in the ongoing fight to prevent and respond to pandemics.”
As the official WHO Collaborating Centre for Digital Learning in Health Emergencies, ECHO has logged more than 234,000 attendances in 194 countries and areas, helping frontline workers better respond to public health emergencies. In 2024 and 2025, ECHO worked in partnership with WHO AFRO and Africa CDC to host a 10-session mpox case management series targeting countries with limited mpox control experience in Africa, reaching almost 2,000 people.
“Our new disease surveillance initiative builds on the solid foundations that we’ve already laid in our partnerships with health officials across Africa,” says Dr. Kisia of ECHO. “Together, we can contribute to a safe and healthy future for Africa and the world.”
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Lynda Mwakisha, Burness Communications, phone: +254 704 589 177
Ann Thuo, Project ECHO, phone: +254 722 339 215
About Project ECHO
Founded in 2003, Project ECHO is a global, not-for-profit organization headquartered at The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. ECHO empowers practitioners in rural and underserved areas to reduce disparities and improve the well-being of people in the communities where they live. In Africa, Project ECHO partners with ministries of health and regional institutions to expand access to quality care and strengthen health systems. Its low-cost virtual mentoring model addresses some of Africa’s, and the world’s, greatest challenges in clinical medicine and public health.