Health Ministry introduces system to digitise viral infection data collection

As Guyana forges ahead with plans to manage the spread of viral infections, the Government through provisions made to Health Ministry has invested in a Flu Information Management System, which will digitise collection of data from the various regions.
The adoption of this system will allow doctors and primary healthcare physicians at health institutions to input all information regarding illnesses like the seasonal flu, dengue fever, malaria, and Hepatitis A and B, among others, in one location where it could be accessed in Georgetown.

Health practitioners from surveillance departments, transmission, analysis, and reporting are currently being trained on how to use the system, which Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony believes will play a crucial role in standardising data analysis.
Additionally, the training will update their knowledge in sentinel surveillance, data entry, and case follow-up within the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Flu system, aiming to improve the system’s overall functionality.
According to Dr Anthony, skilled experts will concentrate the information provided by staff for the ministry to implement targeted programmes aimed at reducing the risks of viral infection transmission and the likeliness of death.
“So, the hope is, in the next couple of years, we’ll have one system that will be able to respond to all of our needs. Now, in this particular case, what we’re looking at, while we build that system, we want to start using data, especially on the flu, to understand what is happening. This year, we would have heard, okay, a lot of people have flu symptoms, but maybe they’re confusing that with dengue, maybe they’re confusing that with COVID, so we’re not sure. But what these systems will allow us to do is to tease out whether it’s flu or whether it’s some other thing, and therefore we’ll be able to have more accurate numbers and respond appropriately,” Dr Anthony explained.
Dr Anthony said prior to the Flu Information Management System, practitioners in the public health system would use Microsoft Excel to track the spread of viral infections.
On this point, he explained that now the specialised software will boost their capability to guard against future epidemics and possibly pandemics, given that it promotes accurate statistics and rapid response to cases.
“So, while we have been building systems to understand what is happening with human health, we would only be able to respond appropriately to future pandemics if we are able to track diseases among the animal population and to understand what is happening in our environment and if we find these things early, we will be able to respond appropriately,” he added.
According to the health minister, these efforts will be supported by a pandemic fund, which has been put in place to raise additional resources for special and critical programmes being spearheaded by his ministry.
“We have also applied to the pandemic fund for additional resources, and if we do get those resources, then we will be able to fund this plan that we have developed. And that would mean that we will be strengthening our laboratory systems to be more responsive, we will be strengthening our surveillance system, we will be training more people in terms of doing surveillance and all the other areas that we need to strengthen,” the health minister stated. (G1)