Karnataka Health Dept. writes to PHANA and IMA to ensure notification of all communicable diseases

So far, private hospitals had been notifying some diseases such as TB and dengue

A file photo of fogging taken to prevent the spread of dengue. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The State Health Department has written to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Association (PHANA) to make sure all private hospitals mandatorily notify all communicable diseases on the Centre’s Integrated Health Information Portal (IHIP).

IHIP, a web-enabled real-time electronic information system, has been developed under the Centre’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) to facilitate mandatory notification on a daily basis.

The platform necessitates private sector participation in developing and linking systems into a common network/grid, which can be accessed by both public and private healthcare providers.

In a letter dated September 1, State Health Commissioner Randeep D. has sought the support and cooperation of the private sector in notifying all communicable diseases for the better health of the community.

“Collaboration with the private sector consistent with data standards and electronic health records will help develop a seamless health information system. Private sector can help create registries of patients and document diseases and health events,” the Commissioner said.

17 syndromes, 24 diseases

Attaching a list of 17 syndromes and 24 diseases, the Commissioner’s letter stated: “In the current epidemic of monkeypox and in the context of the goal of achieving ‘zero dog mediated human rabies by 2030,’ it is essential and mandated to report such cases in IHIP. This will reflect at the national level and help in taking necessary measures for the prevention and control.”

IMA and PHANA members have been asked to contact their jurisdictional District Surveillance Officers (DSOs) and the District Health Officers (DHOs) for creating their login/user ID for individual establishments and also training of their staff for data entry in the IHIP portal.

“Private hospitals and nursing homes affiliated to IMA and PHANA have been providing healthcare services to nearly 70% of the population. These associations have been working in coordination with government health agencies and departments. While IHIP is well established at the government healthcare facilities, daily reporting and notification of all communicable diseases is required to be done by all private hospitals. This includes medical colleges, nursing homes, clinics, laboratories conducting microbiological examinations and other private practitioners so as to ensure a comprehensive health data management in the portal,” the letter added.

PHANA president H.M. Prasanna said it is difficult to comply with the latest instructions. “No consultations were held with us in this regard. This requires a lot of clerical work as the list includes several minor ailments too. However, we issued an advisory to our member hospitals to report all important diseases,” he said.