Evaluating Epidemic Preparedness and Response to COVID-19: A Nation-Wide Multisectorial Intra-Action Review of the Points of Entry Surveillance System in Vietnam, January to September 2020

Points of Entry (PoE) surveillance at internal borders is a cornerstone of the National Surveillance System for COVID19 (NSSC) in Vietnam.1 Recognizing the importance of evaluating surveillance systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) published IntraAction Review (IAR) guidance in July 2020 to inform the real-time evaluations of public health response operations. This COVID-19-specific IAR method aims to (1) take stock of countries measures to prepare for and respond to COVID19, and (2) propose corrective actions to improve and strengthen ongoing COVID-19 response.2 Only few countries have undertaken real-time evaluations of their COVID-19 responses3 and PoE surveillance in particular has not been evaluated during the COVID-19 pandemic. None has ever used the new COVID-specific IAR method from WHO to evaluate their surveillance systems. More generally, methodologically robust evaluations of surveillance systems are scarce, especially from low- and-middle-income countries, despite their importance to improve public health response being widely recognized.4 In October 2020, the General Department of Preventive Medicine (GDPM) of Vietnams Ministry of Health conducted a multistakeholder IAR evaluation of its nationwide PoE surveillance system during the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic. Following the WHO IAR format for this evaluation, we aimed to identify successes and challenges of the PoE system to provide concrete recommendations to improve COVID-19 surveillance at PoE level, both in Vietnam and in other countries in the region