Data analytics can improve integrated surveillance to fight communicable diseases: Experts

The experts discussed the need to improve the surveillance system at a conference on “Surveillance of Communicable Diseases and Integration with the Health System: Lessons from COVID-19” organised by Sun Pharma Science Foundation

New-age technology like data analytics can improve integrated surveillance for fighting communicable diseases and help the country in strengthening the public healthcare infrastructure. In the midst of a pandemic that has challenged the healthcare system worldwide, experts have opined that “nextgen” surveillance system can be developed only through data analytics and short term projections are possible through compartmental and network models. The experts discussed the need to improve the surveillance system at a conference on “Surveillance of Communicable Diseases and Integration with the Health System: Lessons from COVID-19” organised by Sun Pharma Science Foundation.

Surveillance for communicable diseases has become more complex than just identifying and investigating disease outbreaks. Effective surveillance requires monitoring of number of different health parameters each with their own channels of transmission.

Prof Virander S Chauhan, Chairman, Sun Pharma Science Foundation said, “A more pro-active approach to health surveillance is needed for the modern world. New-age technology has the capability to find solutions for such complex problems. However, the country requires skilled workforce to make sense of data and convert it into health intelligence. An important lesson that COVID-19 has taught the world is how to acquire and interpret data fast enough to make accurate and timely decisions.”

Dr Nikhil Tandon, Professor of Endocrinology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and convenor of this conference added, “The objective of Integrated Disease Surveillance Program is to detect the early outbreaks. Through two-types of surveillance – indicator-based and event-based surveillance – Integrated Health Information Portal (IHIP) captures dis-aggregated data on more than 30 diseases/syndromes at all levels.”