Sri Lanka rolls out nationwide event-based surveillance with WHO support

Sri Lanka is taking a significant step towards detecting public health threats earlier. With catalytic financing from the Pandemic Fund and WHO’s support, the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media has begun rolling out Event-Based Surveillance (EBS) nationwide. Unlike traditional surveillance approaches that rely on routine health reporting, EBS identifies unusual health signals from wherever they first emerge, across both health and non-health sectors.

In simple terms, EBS is designed to detect a wide range of public health signals. A cluster of unexplained illnesses in a village, unusual animal deaths, mass absenteeism at schools or workplaces, a rumour circulating within a community, or reports appearing in the media can all serve as early warning signals. These signals can then be detected, reported, verified and, where necessary, acted upon quickly.

EBS complements and strengthens Sri Lanka's existing indicator-based surveillance systems, including EPINET and National notifiable disease surveillance. It follows an all-hazards approach, enables events to be detected earlier from various sources, risks to be assessed promptly, alerts to be raised when needed, and public health responses to be timely and proportionate. This is a necessary direction amidst emerging and re-emerging health threats. 

As one of the stepping stones towards EBS implementation, during February 2026, WHO organized a capacity building exercise for the Epidemiology unit on using Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) to screen, review and identify public health signals from online media sources.

From pilot to national roll-out

The national scale-up follows a pilot implementation of EBS in the Gampaha district during April-June 2026. Building on lessons from the pilot and with technical support from WHO, the Epidemiology Unit convened the first national consultative workshop on 13 August 2026 to initiate the nationwide roll-out through One Health and collaborative approaches, recognizing that human, animal and environmental health are inseparable.

The workshop introduced participants to the principles of EBS, global experiences in implementation, operational arrangements across institutions, and WHO's Quick and Immediate Risk Assessment (QIRA) tool.

Participants represented the health, animal health, environmental health and education sectors, alongside non-governmental and civil society organizations.

Dr Momoe Takeuchi, Team Lead – Health Systems at WHO Sri Lanka delivering remarks at the National Consultative Workshop on EBS Scale-Up in Sri Lanka in August 2026.

Delivering the opening remarks during the first national workshop, Dr Momoe Takeuchi, Officer-in-Charge and Team Lead for Health Systems at WHO Sri Lanka, congratulated the Ministry of Health and the Epidemiology Unit on the national roll-out and reaffirmed WHO's continued commitment to strengthening surveillance systems in the country.

The technical sessions began with a presentation by Dr Amarnath Babu, WHO Consultant, with global perspectives to Event-Based Surveillance, which provided the foundation for the discussions that followed.

Dr Amarnath Babu, WHO Consultant, presenting on EBS and global perspectives in practice at the National Consultative Workshop in Sri Lanka in August 2026.

Widening the circle

A second national consultative workshop was held on 3 September 2026, expanding engagement to a broader group of frontline implementers. More than 40 participants attended, including Regional Epidemiologists from the Regional Directorates of Health Services in Mannar, Galle, Kurunegala, Hambantota, Ratnapura and Badulla, as well as representatives from the National Institute of Health Sciences, Lady Ridgeway Hospital, private hospitals and laboratories, consultant community physicians, and nursing officers and sisters.

Participants engaging in sessions during the EBS national consultative workshops in August 2026.

Dr Amarnath Babu opened the technical sessions, followed by a presentation by Mr A L K Wijemannage, Director General of the Department of Meteorology, on the major El Niño impact on Sri Lanka and why EBS matters in that context, a reminder that climate and health signals increasingly travel together.

Further sessions focused on how EBS will be implemented across the various sectors and participating institutions, alongside a briefing on the WHO’s Quick and Immediate Risk Assessment (QIRA) tool.

During the workshops, participants also received an official directive from the Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Mass Media, formally establishing EBS as a complementary component of the existing indicator-based surveillance system across both health and non-health sectors.

A briefing note on the national scale up of EBS in Sri Lanka by the Ministry of Health and Mass Media.

What comes next

The next phase of implementation will focus on bringing EBS closer to districts and communities through a series of subnational workshops.

WHO is also partnering with Ministry of Health and mass media under the pandemic fund to establish Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance in the country and to adopt a multi-source approach to surveillance.

WHO will continue to support implementation through technical guidance, capacity building, the development of tools and standard operating procedures, monitoring and evaluation, and strengthened coordination among partners.