Surveillance is an essential public health function that provides critical data to monitor the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), measure risk factors and social determinants of health, and assess targeted interventions. It enables evidence-based policy implementation, guides prevention, control, and disease management strategies, and plays a key role in evaluating interventions. Surveillance also promotes cost-effective resource allocation and strengthens health system capacity.
Within the NCD surveillance toolbox, telephone surveys are a valuable method for efficient, cost-effective data collection. Their flexibility allows for rapid deployment and adaptation to country-specific needs, making them key for ongoing surveillance. During public health crises, timely data from telephone surveys can be crucial for enabling swift responses, particularly in assessing the quality of care for NCDs.
The use of telephone surveys to monitor NCD risk factors has been successful and operational in the Americas for over two decades in Brazil with the Vigitel survey and in the United States with the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Originally designed to track trends in NCD risk factors, these surveys have evolved, expanding their scope and adapting to specific data needs to inform policy decisions and guide interventions.
PAHO/WHO launched the Rapid Mobile Phone Survey (RaMPS) initiative in 2020 as a tool to complement the NCD surveillance toolbox by measuring policies and interventions at the population level. RaMPS has the potential to provide timely and reliable data on the implementation of the NCD Best Buys by supporting national legislative processes providing data on population behaviors, knowledge, attitudes, practices regarding risk factors exposure and protective measures. RaMPS also helps assess barriers to healthcare access, the quality of care, and can offer critical data during public health crises. Currently 8 countries in the Americas (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Uruguay) have implemented RaMPS at least once.
As countries continue to strengthen their NCD surveillance capacity, telephone surveys offer a scalable and adaptable approach to generating timely, policy-relevant data that can drive effective public health action across the Americas.
- Highlight the role of surveillance as an essential public health function that guides the health system response to the burden of NCDs.
- Showcase the use of telephone surveys as a flexible and key tool to monitor NCDs access to care, and health system response.
- Share lessons learned from the experiences of Brazil (Vigitel) and Uruguay (RaMPS) in implementing telephone-based surveillance systems and leveraging the data to inform decision-making.
- Discuss policy actions to integrate flexible and rapid tools, such as telephone surveys, into a comprehensive NCD surveillance system.
The session aimed primarily at Ministry of Health NCD focal points; mental health focal points; professionals working on health statistics, epidemiology, surveillance, planning and evaluation; representatives from subnational level health entities from countries of the Americas. It also can be useful for representatives of civil society organizations, academia and agencies interested in surveillance and monitoring of NCDs and their risk factors.
Opening remarks
Setting the scene: Why are flexible and timely tools needed for measuring NCDs?
Monitoring access to NCD quality of care
Vigitel: two decades of monitoring NCD risk factors and adapting to Brazil’s evolving data needs
RaMPS in Uruguay: measuring the implementation of front-of-package labelling policies at the population level
Questions and answers
Closing remarks
- Moderator: Silvana Luciani, Unit Chief, Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence and Injuries Prevention Unit, PAHO/WHO.
- Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr., Director, PAHO/WHO.
- Roberta Caixeta, Advisor, NCD surveillance, prevention and control, PAHO/WHO.
- Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives.
- Letícia de Oliveira Cardoso, Director of DAENT/SVSA, Ministry of Health, Brazil.
- Ximena Moratorio, Coordinator of the National Nutrition Program, Ministry of Public Health of Uruguay.
- Jimena Heinzen, Coordinator of the National NCD Prevention Program, Ministry of Public Health, Uruguay.
- Anselm Hennis, Director, Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, PAHO/WHO.