The Ministry of Health has marked a significant milestone after launching Fiji’s FluTracking project at the Dinem House in Toorak yesterday.
The project is an international partnership of health agencies where online surveys help collect data to track the spread of influenza-like illnesses, COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses in Fiji, and provide early warning of potential outbreaks, including monitoring trends during pandemics.
Chief medical adviser Dr Luisa Cikamatana said traditional communicable disease surveillance in Fiji relied on health facility data which often triggered alerts only when individuals sought medical care, which led to the delay in outbreak detection.
She said FluTracking ad would address this gap by enabling faster detection through community-driven monitoring.
“FluTracking empowers communities to report symptoms directly, allowing quicker identification of potential outbreak before they escalate,” Dr Cikamatana said.
“The project collects data on symptoms and health-seeking behaviours, helping public health officials understand how illnesses spread and how people respond, thus enabling targeted interventions.”
She also encouraged the public to register to help track the spread of influenza-like illnesses.
“I encourage everyone to register and contribute to community surveillance for influenza.”
