Implementation of guidelines-based train-the-trainer influenza surveillance workshops for Russia and Eastern European nations

Conducting surveillance for influenza is a high priority public health activity. However standard approaches to monitoring severe disease are needed globally and surveillance systems should be useful for monitoring both seasonal and pandemic influenza. In 2009, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO-Europe) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness in the NC Institute for Public Health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health to develop and deliver a train-the-trainer workshop based on WHO guidelines for sentinel surveillance of influenza in this region. The workshop, which involved active learning through table-top scenarios and discussion, was offered to country-level officials. Time was programmed for country presentations to allow participants to learn from the ingenuity of other countries' systems and to compare actual established systems versus the ideal components included in guidelines. All components of training were well received, due to the timely nature of influenza training during the pandemic H1N1 (2009) outbreak. Participants (n=53) completed written evaluation forms at the end of the training. All 53 (100%) either agreed or strongly agreed that the epidemiology and virology breakout sessions were useful; 93% agreed or strongly agreed that there was enough discussion of important topics; and 98% agreed or strongly agreed that they gained information they can share with their sentinel surveillance network. The train-the-trainer format is being adapted for capacity building and knowledge sharing in other regions.