Courses Offered
These courses are for pre-service national-, provincial-, or district-level surveillance personnel or existing staff for new country programs, or others involved in universal and sentinel surveys.
Introduction to HIV/AIDS and STI surveillance
Overview of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic with an Introduction to Public Health Surveillance (Module 1)
The overview presents an introduction to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including information on the epidemiology of the disease and public health surveillance measures used to combat it.
Objectives: After completing this course, participants should:
- Know the three HIV epidemic states and be able to characterise the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their country
- Be familiar with the predominant routes and key risk factors of HIV transmission
- Be able to describe the components of an effective HIV surveillance system and the elements of second generation HIV surveillance
- Understand the ethics involved in HIV surveillance and be aware of potential harm to individuals and to populations
- Be able to develop a plan for evaluating their own country’s surveillance system.
Length:
- Overview of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Introduction to Public Health Surveillance, 1 day
- HIV Case Surveillance, 3-5 days
- HIV Sero surveillance, 3-5 days
- Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance, 3-5 days
Languages: English, Portuguese, French
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
HIV Clinical Staging and Case Reporting (Module 2)
This course introduces HIV case surveillance with an emphasis on WHO guidelines and second generation HIV and STI surveillance, mortality monitoring, ethics and confidentiality, analysis and presentation of surveillance data, and regional reporting.
Objectives: Participants will learn how to:
- Set up HIV and STI case reporting systems
- Analyze HIV and STI surveillance data
- Use surveillance data for prevention, care, and treatment planning
- Evaluate a public health surveillance system.
This course incorporates the development of country operational and implementation plans.
Length:
- Overview of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Introduction to Public Health Surveillance, 1 day
- HIV Case Surveillance, 3-5 days
- HIV Sero surveillance, 3-5 days
- Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance, 3-5 days
Languages: English, Portuguese, French
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
HIV Sero-Prevalence Surveillance (Module 3)
This course presents the key issues in HIV surveillance and complementary surveillance techniques for tracking the epidemic, focusing on the steps to conduct unlinked anonymous HIV sero prevalence surveys at antenatal clinics.
Objectives: After completing this course, participants should be able to:
- Understand the criteria for selecting sentinel populations and identify specific groups and sites in their district that are suitable for sentinel surveillance
- Identify appropriate sampling schemes depending on the situation and the target population and create a sampling frame
- Understand the considerations that determine which HIV testing approach is suited for HIV surveillance in their country and describe the advantages and disadvantages of different HIV testing options
- Describe the staffing, training, and supervising requirements of HIV sentinel surveillance
- Identify the key variables used in the analysis of HIV sentinel surveillance data.
Length:
- Overview of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Introduction to Public Health Surveillance, 1 day
- HIV Case Surveillance, 3-5 days
- HIV Sero surveillance, 3-5 days
- Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance, 3-5 days
Languages: English, Portuguese, French
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance (Module 4)
This course describes the interaction between HIV infection and STIs. The module describes how to develop and operate systems for STI surveillance in the context of integrated disease surveillance (IDS).
Objectives: After completing this course, participants should be able to:
- Understand the inter relationship between HIV and STIs and the principles of IDS
- Explain the difference between aetiologic and syndromic case reporting
- Understand the advantages, disadvantages, and timing of STI universal case reporting and sentinel surveillance
- Ensure confidentiality when collecting, archiving, and reporting STI data
- Identify the STIs most suitable for inclusion in combined STI/HIV biological and behavioral surveillance.
Length:
- Overview of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Introduction to Public Health Surveillance, 1 day
- HIV Case Surveillance, 3-5 days
- HIV Sero surveillance, 3-5 days
- Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance, 3-5 days
Languages: English, Portuguese, French
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Introduction to Behavioural Surveillance
Surveillance of HIV Risk Behaviours (Module 5)
This course introduces behavioural surveillance with an emphasis on presurveillance activities, measures and indicators, survey methods, sampling approaches, data use, and ethics.
Specific audience: Senior-level planners, decision-makers, and Ministers of Health who will not conduct the surveillance
Objectives: After completing this course, participants should be able to:
- Identify the uses of behavioural surveillance
- Select indicators most suited to particular situations
- Discuss at a high level the sampling issues and options for behavioural surveillance
- Describe the types of data analysis commonly used in behavioural surveillance
- Explain appropriate data analysis and use
- Discuss ethical considerations unique to behavioural surveillance.
Length: 5 days
- Surveillance of HIV Risk Behaviours, 2.5 days
- Surveillance of Most-At-Risk Populations, 2.5 days
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Surveillance of Most-At-Risk Populations (Module 6)
Prerequisite: HIV Risk Behaviours
This course introduces HIV surveillance among high-risk populations, including commercial sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injection drug users, which are described in depth. Specific surveillance techniques are recommended. Detailed case studies are provided for each population to help participants plan implementation.
Specific audience: Surveillance officers who will conduct the surveillance
Objectives: After completing this course, participants should be able to:
- Discuss the importance of surveillance in high-risk populations
- Understand the purpose of pre-surveillance assessments and the role of qualitative and quantitative research in these assessments
- Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various sampling approaches
- Discuss how to choose the most effective biological and behavioural measures in surveys of high-risk groups
- Understand the special ethical consideration of conducting behavioural and biological surveillance among high-risk groups.
Length: 5 days
- Surveillance of HIV Risk Behaviours, 2.5 days
- Surveillance of Most-At-Risk Populations, 2.5 days
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Advanced Courses and Workshops
Prerequisite: Surveillance of HIV Risk Behaviors
This course provides details on how to conduct a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) study. Lessons learned from studies completed to date are provided.
Objectives: The course provides step-by-step procedures with tools and samples and emphasizes:
- Pre-study preparations
- Identifying and recruiting seeds
- Selecting and managing interview sites
- Designing coupons; determining incentives
- Questionnaire development
- The interview and claim process
- Staff considerations
- Documentation and management
- Controlling sample growth, ending recruitment
- Analysis
Additional time can be provided on RDS protocol development at each country's request.
Length: 2.5 to 3 days
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Prerequisite: Surveillance of HIV Risk Behaviors
Time-location sampling (TLS) is ideal for sampling visible populations that frequent public venues in a higher proportion than the background population. These venues may include injection drug sites, sex worker strolls, and bars.
Objectives: The course will provide details on how to set up a TLS surveillance project and will instruct participants in how to:
- Select venues for sampling
- Construct a sampling calendar
- Perform sampling at venues.
Additional time can be provided on TLS protocol development at each country's request.
Length: 3 days
Languages: English
Contact: Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Audience: Ministry of Health and National HIV/AIDS Program staff
Objectives: At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to:
- Adapt survey instruments to a local context
- Develop country-specific, measurable questions to include in national HIV/AIDS-related surveys.
Length: Approximately 2 days
Languages: English; others to be determined
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
This course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to enhance tuberculosis (TB) and HIV surveillance activities and clinical services at the health facility-level.
Objectives: The course will help participants to:
- Successfully incorporate TB/HIV co-infection prevention and control recommendations and guidelines into diagnostic and clinical care practices
- Accurately and consistently record and report patient- and facility-related data on TB/HIV co-infection, as required by district- and national-level health surveillance systems
- Correctly interpret and use health facility data to enhance TB/HIV quality assurance practices, as well as prevention and control programmes
- Plan and deliver TB/HIV surveillance and survey activities.
Length: 5 days
Languages: English; Spanish
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Specific audience: Surveillance and laboratory personnel
Participants will engage in planning BED implementation for their country including, requirements for protocol development and human subjects approval; personnel management; study population and data; specimen storage, handling, and testing; equipment and supplies; and a timeline for assay implementation and analysis of results.
Objectives: At the conclusion of the course, participants will have an overview of laboratory methods and epidemiological study designs to measure HIV-1 incidence. In addition, laboratory staff will learn:
- Laboratory procedures for conducting the BED HIV-1 incidence assay
- Management of BED laboratory data
- Procedures for quality control
- Calculation of incidence estimates from BED laboratory results
Epidemiological staff will learn epidemiological and ethical requirements for integrating the HIV-1 BED Incidence assay into cross-sectional sero surveys used for HIV surveillance, including HIV-1 sentinel surveillance and general population-based surveys:
- Management and merging of laboratory and HIV surveillance data
- Analysis of BED results, including calculation of HIV-1 incidence estimates and 95% confidence intervals and basic statistics for comparing HIV-1 incidence between populations and over time.
Length: 5 days
Format: Based on the use of the BED assay and protocol developed at CDC for HIV-1 incidence surveillance in resource-limited countries. The course includes both classroom and hands-on laboratory training, but it can also be presented as lab only or surveillance only.
Languages: Available in English
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Part 1. Planning and Implementing Your Country's HIV Drug Resistance Prevention and Evaluation Activities
Objectives: The course will provide national core groups with the tools and information to:
- Form an HIV drug resistance working group
- Develop an HIV drug resistance prevention strategy
- Develop national protocols for HIV drug resistance surveillance and monitoring based on WHO/CDC generic protocols
- Plan for the collection of early warning indicators of HIV drug resistance
- Plan for the analysis and use of results to make recommendations for antiretroviral therapy programs
- Write a country report
- Plan for integration of the methodology into routine public health practice.
Part 2. Using the Surveillance and Monitoring Database Application
Objectives: The database provides a means for project sites to export data to regional and central databases. It supoorts assessment of:
- The extent to which HIV drug resistance and transmission emerges within each country
- The pattern of emergence of drug-resistant HIV strains
- The factors to be addressed on an antiretroviral therapy program-level to minimize preventable drug resistance
The database application provides HIV Drug Resistance Surveillance and Monitoring project sites with a tool to collect data from:
- Surveillance studies to assess levels of transmitted HIV drug resistance during sentinel surveys
- Monitoring studies to assess HIV drug resistance in treated populations and associated antiretroviral therapy program factors.
Data include demographic and clinical data, specimen tracking data and HIV drug resistance and other laboratory data.
Participants will be guided through the process of correctly entering data and producing reports for:
- Threshold surveys of transmission of HIV drug resistance
- Surveys to monitor HIV drug resistance emerging in sentinel antiretroviral therapy sites and associated antiretroviral therapy site factors.
Length: 5 days
- Part 1. Planning and Implementing Your Country’s HIV Drug Resistance Prevention and Evaluation Activities (3 days)
- Part 2. Using the Surveillance and Monitoring Database Application (2 days)
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manuals
- Handouts
- Slides
- HIV drug resistance database application
Specific audience: Data managers (familiarity with Epi Info is not required).
The course provides participants with basic technical skills in data processing, analysis, and report writing for survey data. The course introduces best practice techniques for systematically collecting, managing, processing, and reporting HIV survey data.
To benefit from this course, participants should be able to:
- Use the Microsoft Windows computing environment (move, copy, and rename files and file folders)
- Perform and interpret simple and more complex data analyses, using either computer- or paper-based statistical methods
- Understand the basic approach to conducting public health sentinel surveillance, including in antenatal clinics, in resource-limited settings. Familiarity with this type of surveillance can be obtained by reading the WHO Second Generation Surveillance Guidelines, your country’s HIV sentinel surveillance protocol, and other published literature.
Objectives: By the end of the course, the participant will be able to:
- Design easy-to-use data collection and electronic data entry forms
- Develop simple and complex check code to validate data entry
- Oversee and perform data entry
- Develop and document data cleaning and database storage strategies
- Conduct simple exploratory analyses for data cleaning purposes
- Clean and prepare data for analysis
- Perform simple and complex descriptive analyses
- Develop clear and concise national and regional reports.
Length: 5 days
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Facilitator manual (in development)
- Slides
This course is a natural follow-up to Electronic Data Processing, Analysis and Reporting for HIV Sentinel Surveys (previous), although data from any source may be used. The workshop will focus on writing and presenting national or regional surveillance information.
Specific audience: Staff who will assist to develop an annual surveillance report then deliver the information to a variety of audiences.
Objectives: During the course, participants will:
- Decide overall design
- Create charts, tables, and other data displays using their own cleaned data
- Practice developing a communication approach for different audiences.
Length: Approximately 5 days
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manual
- Slides
Training-of-trainers adds on to any of the surveillance courses in this curriculum
A surveillance training-of-trainers event employs the Teachback Methodology to improve participants’ facilitation skills. Participants blend learning training skills with teaching the course content of any of the surveillance courses previously described. Course participants gain skills in training adults, teaching surveillance courses, and providing/receiving feedback on performance.
Objectives: Participants will gain knowledge and skills in how to:
- Train adults
- Facilitate a lecture or small group discussion and role play
- Give and receive verbal and written feedback
- Create an action plan.
Please allow several months for preparation of these events.
Languages: English
Materials:
- Participant manual and slides (for course content used)
- Facilitator Training Guide for the surveillance curriculum
- Teachback slides
- Handouts
- Videotape/DVD (English)
Length: Chosen surveillance course + 2 days
For additional courses visit our partner's site: Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia.