In 2004, the Ministry of Health of the Government of India, with aid from the World Bank launched the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP). It is a major National Health Program that has evolved and restructured over the years.
The main objective of the program is to strengthen disease surveillance for epidemic-prone diseases by establishing decentralized state-wise surveillance systems, for monitoring, detecting, and responding to outbreaks in their early phases. This makes sure effective public health actions are taken at the National, State, and District levels by the Rapid Response Teams (RRT) to contain the disease outbreak.
As of June 2022, the government is considering full integration of Covid surveillance with the IDSP to ensure that covid trends are continuously monitored and not just when the cases spike. The same surveillance strategy will be used to keep a watch on the monkeypox virus that is afflicting many countries at present.