EMARIS is a network of countries in the Region working together to strengthen and enhance influenza and other emerging respiratory disease surveillance, improve the use of surveillance data for developing control programmes and for conducting research related to influenza and other respiratory viruses. Meetings of the EMARIS network have been held regularly since 2011 in order to share best practices for influenza surveillance, track progress, and draw important lessons on public health preparedness for pandemic influenza.

The 3rd Scientific Conference on Acute Respiratory Infections in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, which includes, the 6th Meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance (EMARIS) Network, is a conference of experts on acute respiratory infection (ARI) surveillance which aims to improve the quality of surveillance, data and data management, and policy in the field of ARI. The conference is organized by the  WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During the Conference, participants will review achievements and challenges, share evidence and best practices on severity assessments and outbreak detection, discuss how to use surveillance data as an advocacy tool for better policy, and showcase scientific achievements and new operational research findings.