A two-day National Review Meeting of Metropolitan Surveillance Units (MSUs) was held in Nagpur, bringing together representatives from 20 cities across India under the theme “Proactive Surveillance, Protected Cities.” The meeting aimed to review progress and strengthen urban disease surveillance systems in Tier-I and Tier-II cities.
Deliberations focused on enhancing early warning systems, ensuring timely public health responses, and improving preparedness in urban settings. Technical sessions included a review of the Nagpur MSU’s response to an AES outbreak, sharing of best practices by operational MSUs, and progress reports on priority MSUs. A scientific session emphasised the role of MSUs as a strategic investment in urban disease surveillance, highlighting the importance of collaborative and multisectoral coordination.
The event was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), municipal authorities from cities including Hyderabad, Shimla, Nagpur, Patna, and Bhopal, as well as MSU nodal officers, and experts from organisations such as AIIMS Nagpur, ICMR, PATH, the World Bank, and professional medical bodies including IMA and IAP. Stakeholders from the animal health and wildlife sectors, including the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Government Veterinary College Nagpur, also participated.
Participants were also trained in the All-Hazard preparedness framework and guided to develop City Emergency Response Plans (All-Hazard Plans), designed to strengthen coordinated responses to public health emergencies.
The meeting concluded with a consensus on the need to further strengthen collaborative disease surveillance and urban public health response systems. The outcomes are expected to make cities more resilient, safer, and better prepared to detect and respond to emerging public health threats.
