Global Surveillance Systems for Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Critical Review of Infrastructure, Policy, and Data Sharing

More frequent and increasingly global emerging infectious diseases have made it clear that reliable systems for surveillance are needed to track, address, and mitigate their spread. This review gives an in-depth assessment of the key infrastructure, operational capacity and policies in global disease surveillance systems, checking if they are prepared for future pandemics. It examines key organizations such as World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, Global Health Security Agenda, and CDC’s Global Disease Detection, as well as networks such as ProMED-mail, Global Public Health Intelligence Network, and HealthMap. It highlights important gains in genomic studies and advancements in artificial intelligence and mobile technologies for data collection. However, there are still major difficulties in improving diagnostics, linking systems, and equal rights in poor and middle-income countries. It analyzes the weaknesses in International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and the One Health approach when it comes to improving reporting and cooperation between experts in different sectors. Big challenges such as data sovereignty, distrust, and not having standard ways to share data receive close scrutiny. Evaluating innovations and highlights such as Africa CDC’s surveillance centers and platforms like BlueDot, the paper suggests measures for future action that center on readiness, openness, and trust. In conclusion, it offers steps to strengthen world governance, promote equal access to data, and allocate money to surveillance systems, which are crucial for global health security.