Deploying infectious disease surveillance software

On April 22, the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City held a conference to deploy the application of infectious disease surveillance software for preventive medical units of 20 provinces and cities in the Southern region.

Testing for influenza strains at the Center for Disease Control. (Photo: Duong Ngoc/VNA)

This software was piloted by the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) in seven provinces including Hanoi, Yen Bai, Thai Binh, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Dong Thap and Dak Lak since July 2012.

After nearly two years of pilot implementation, up to now, 49 provinces and cities nationwide have reported infectious diseases through this software.

Through preliminary assessment, the application of software with data stored centrally, easy to manage, ensures security and reports quickly and conveniently.

The Department of Preventive Medicine has issued a decision to deploy the application of this software nationwide since July 1, 2014, as an official reporting channel.

Infectious disease surveillance software is built to enter, process and report infectious disease data via the Internet in all preventive health units from the commune level to the Department of Preventive Medicine.

The software is designed to be open, easy to use and allows for upgrades when needed. Users can access the software on computers with Internet connection through accounts and access codes and have data entry functions even when the Internet connection is unstable.

According to the authorization of the levels, users can create reports, view reports, edit and save data of the lower levels. The Department of Preventive Medicine is the highest level, performing the system administration function.

According to the Department of Preventive Medicine, previously, preventive medicine units often reported local epidemics in writing, by email, fax or by phone. However, many units reported by phone, so they only reported diseases that were local.

Besides, the time for paper reporting is still quite slow, especially reporting group A cases, not ensuring timeliness to serve epidemic prevention work.

Therefore, the built infectious disease surveillance software has partly met the requirements for continuity and timeliness in epidemic prevention work./.

According to Vietnam+