A pilot Wastewater-Based CoVID-19 Surveillance (WWBS) program is officially launched
![A pilot Wastewater-Based CoVID-19 Surveillance (WWBS) program is officially launched](https://ephi.gov.et/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/new-1-1024x682.jpg)
The WWBS program was launched at the presence of the Deputy Director General of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) representatives, and a Technical Working Group comprising of experts from different government sectors and partner organizations.
Dr. Getachew Tollera, in his introductory remarks stated that EPHI has successfully coordinated the COVID-19 response since the outbreak began. He also indicated that the newly introduced Wastewater-Based COVID-19 Surveillance is an important approach for early detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community, and it supports the existing case-based surveillance program. He noted that this surveillance combined with clinical tests and epidemiology data for SARS-CoV-2 could track and identify the virus’s presence, geographic spread, and intensity of transmission at an early stage. Overall, it was stressed that such surveillance strategy, has a crucial role for effectively understanding of the COVID-19 disease burden and other epidemics in the community, the data generated could promote public health decision-making and action.
Dr. Yohannes Eshete, APHL’s representative, on his behalf said that the program is expected to build the laboratory testing and human capacity that supports the national COVID-19 surveillance efforts. Following the opening remarks, Project Investigators (Mr. Daniel Abera and Mr. Gebremedhin Gebremichael), presented the overall project plan and interactive discussion was made with invited participants.