Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) has been supported by United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 1980. The two years long FETP was modeled on CDC’s Epidemic intelligence Service which is a successful program in United States. Over seventy countries have participated in the CDC supported FETP around the world. As a “disease detectives” FETP graduates are now continue working in the country’s various public health programs. Although FETP is successfully creating trained field epidemiologist worldwide, however, recent epidemics demonstrated lack of epidemiologist at community level. In order to strengthen the capacity of countries to more rapidly detect, respond and contain public health emergencies at community US CDC launched a new strategy in 2015 known as FETP Frontline.

The inception of Frontline Field Epidemiology Training Program, Bangladesh (FETP, B)

was held in March 2016. The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOH&FW), Bangladesh is conducting the training program in Bangladesh in collaboration with the US CDC. The innovative two months long training program has been designed for government physicians and veterinarians to strengthen the capacity and knowledge of the participants regarding disease surveillance and outbreak response.

Goals

    To build workforce on basic epidemiologic capacity resulting in strengthening public health surveillance and in promoting the use of data for decision-making

    To strengthen the understanding and collaboration between animal and human health in disease surveillance and outbreak response

Objectives

    Strengthen the use of disease surveillance data by physicians and veterinarians for monitoring the health of the community and for providing information for decision- making

    Enhance field level basic surveillance data collection, analysis, interpretation and communication

    Improve the quality and use of surveillance data for diseases and outbreak detection at field level

    Augment local response, by facilitating initial case investigation and/or outbreak investigation

IEDCR has successfully completed training of 9th Frontline FETP, B batches since 2016. A total of 170 participants were graduated till 2019. Among the graduates there were 106 human physicians and 64 veterinarians. In 2018, IEDCR organized training of one batch with the support from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOH&FW), Bangladesh and other one