Use of Workplace Absenteeism Surveillance Data for Outbreak Detection

actions of national and international actors. In the years ahead, the international community will almost certainly be expected to bring its formidable technical knowledge, skills, and analytic capabilities to confront this expanded global health threat environment (9). It would be wrong, however, to forget the many insights that current advances in epidemiology and surveillance have delivered. In fact, should the impetus to fi nance a global health agenda encounter opposition or obstacles, it would seem easier and logical to strengthen already functional activities. Lastly, the realities and the prevalent policymaking environment have created a trap between a desire to prioritize global health by portraying aspects of it as an existential security issue and the fact that security ultimately might not be the most useful language for describing and institutionalizing the health threats and hazards confronted by societies around the world (10). Regardless of whether a trap has been created, action is urgently needed.