The Surveillance Outbreak Response Managment & Analysis System (SORMAS) is an open source, digital process management system for the detection and control of epidemics. SORMAS was developed during the West African Ebola epidemic in 2014 in collaboration with several international partners under the leadership of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and has proven effective in the spread of large epidemics of Lassa fever, monkeypox, meningitis, measles and the COVID pandemic in several countries.
Crossing Disciplines & Borders
SORMAS offers especially adapted user interfaces for numerous professional groups and institutions involved in disease surveillance and control. Users can assign tasks to each other and collaborate in multidirectional communication and coordination. SORMAS provides secure data exchange between different national SORMAS servers and enables use in a multinational context.
Disease-specific management
Experts from different disciplines have designed and developed SORMAS to facilitate the coordination and management of disease-specific control measures such as contact tracing, preventive treatment, vector control, vaccination or veterinary and environmental health measures. SORMAS also provides a module for clinical case management, including prescriptions, treatment documentation, diagnosis and health surveillance.
Global Good and International Benchmarking
SORMAS is a mature Digital Global Good. SORMAS was the first system to meet 100% of the requirements for Digital Square’s Global Good Maturity Assessment for digital health tools. Several systematic scientific reviews have identified SORMAS as one of the most advanced tools with the most comprehensive portfolio.
Geographical spread
SORMAS was first used in West Africa. Increased dissemination during the COVID pandemic has led to rapid spread to many countries from 5 different WHO regions. SORMAS has been implemented in the past in the following countries:
- Afghanistan
- Fiji
- France
- Ghana
- Germany
- Ivory Coast
- Nepal
- Nigeria
- Switzerland
- Tanzania
- Tunisia
Data protection & security
SORMAS has passed several government and industry security audits in Germany, Switzerland and France and complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The data processed through SORMAS belongs exclusively to the health authority authorised to do so by the regulations of the respective country.
