Strengthening disease surveillance in Malawi and the Central African Republic

Timely, accurate disease surveillance is a frontline defense of public health – crucial for detecting outbreaks early, responding swiftly, limiting the spread of infectious disease, and evaluating the impact of health interventions. However, many low- and middle-income countries face systemic challenges in coordinating surveillance efforts. 

Amp Health has partnered with the Strengthening Outbreak Notification and Response (SONAR) programme, an initiative of the Global Fund implemented by The Task Force for Global Health, to strengthen epidemiological tracking in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Malawi. 

This collaboration aligns with SONAR’s broader mission to support countries across Africa and Asia in building early-warning surveillance systems that strengthen outbreak and pandemic response. This partnership marks Amp Health’s entry point into disease surveillance and presents a valuable opportunity to improve detection and outbreak response, as well as to foster coordination and collaboration between countries, health departments, and programmes.

Disease surveillance departments (DSDs) often operate in siloes, with limited integration across teams, ministries, and external stakeholders. This fragmentation not only weakens outbreak detection and response but also disconnects DSDs from critical national and global health initiatives.

Amp Health has embedded Management Partners in the CAR Ministry of Health and Population’s Directorate of Surveillance, Epidemic Response and Public Health Emergencies and the Public Health Institute of Malawi. In both countries, we are focused on building leadership and management capacity, enhancing surveillance systems, and fostering collaboration within and across departments.

The collaboration will address critical systemic inefficiencies and enable the DSDs in CAR and Malawi to make sustainable improvements in outbreak detection, notification, and response, while also fostering cross-country learning. By combining Amp Health’s leadership and management expertise with SONAR’s technological innovations, this partnership will drive a holistic transformation of disease surveillance in both countries. The result: systems that detect outbreaks early and respond with precision – ultimately saving lives.