Dear Colleagues,

The technical unit of Infectious Hazard Management in WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean welcomes you to the 2nd Scientific Conference on Acute Respiratory Infection in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and the 5th Meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance (EMARIS) Network.

The aim of this conference is to document progress made in the Region in the areas of strengthening surveillance and response capacities of the countries for both seasonal and pandemic influenza and other acute respiratory infections.

A wealth of information has been accumulated since the surveillance for influenza was established and strengthened in the Region; 19 of the 22 countries are currently implementing SARI and ILI surveillance with enhanced data collection and analysis attributes. As more data is now available, countries are turning their focus towards data quality for improving informed decision making in prevention, detection and control of acute respiratory infections.

Welcome to EMARIS 2019.

Better Data. Better Policy. Better Action.