Organization
Since most public health interventions are planned and verified at local level, in PASSI regions and local health units are directly involved in the surveillance.
Regional coordinating groups give assistance to and support the teams of the local health units. The national coordinating group, at the National Center of Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion (CNESPS) of the National Health Institute (ISS), acts as a reference for organizational and technical issues and supervises the working processes of the system.
The staff of the public health departments perform the interviews, enter and analyze the data, communicate the results and promote their use for public health planning, connecting evidence gathering and utilization.
The main goal of producing evidence is flanked by communications and educational activities, aimed to bring about a real empowerment of the local health structures, improving the professional skills of the personnel, disseminating the culture of Evidence Based Prevention and encouraging the integration of different departments and services.