JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

The globe is an organically linked whole, and in the pandemic era, COVID-19 has brought heavy public safety threats and economic costs to humanity as almost all countries began to pay more attention to taking steps to minimize the risk of harm to society from sudden-onset diseases. It is worth noting that in some low- and middle-income areas, where the environment for epidemic detection is complex the causative and co-morbid factors are numerous, and where public health resources are scarce. It is often more difficult than in other areas to obtain timely and effective detection and control in the event of widespread virus transmission, which in turn is a constant threat to local and global public health security. Pandemics are preventable through effective disease surveillance systems, with non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) as the mainstay of the control system, effectively controlling the spread of epidemics and preventing larger outbreaks. However, the current state-of-the-art NPI is not applicable in low- and middle-income areas and tends to be decentralized and costly. Based on a three-year case study of SARS-CoV-2 preventive detection in low-income areas in south-central China, we explore a strategic model for enhancing disease detection efficacy in low- and middle-income areas. For the first time, we propose an integrated and comprehensive approach that covers structural, social, and personal strategies to optimize the epidemic surveillance system in low - and middle-income areas. This model can improve the local epidemic detection efficiency, ensure the healthcare needs of more people, reduce the public health costs in low - and middle-income areas in a coordinated manner, and ensure and strengthen local public health security sustainably.