BAGUIO CITY—The first-ever Geographic Information System-based dengue and epidemiology system for providing the public, policy-makers, and decision-makers with a real time picture of dengue fever cases will pilot in this city.
Engineer Nathaniel Lubreca, project leader of the University of the Cordilleras (UC) dengue surveillance system team, the system will be tested next week and operational glitches are expected to be corrected in five months.
The system is a project of the UC College of Engineering, the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Health, the City Health Services Office, the Cordillera Health Research and Development Consortium, and the various universities and colleges in the region.
“We want to provide the public with a clearer picture of dengue surveillance down to the barangays for the people to know the status of dengue in specific areas. The GIS-based surveillance system will be able to identify areas where there is clustering of dengue cases and where there are outbreaks,” Lubreca stressed.
He explained other future refinements will make the system an intelligent one and conform to future needs.
The PCHRD gave the UC study group P500,000 to implement the project that will be a model for similar surveillance software.
Dr. Alexei Marrero, Medical Officer of the Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR), said this dengue surveillance system is a welcome development that will provide health experts a clearer picture of the prevalence of dengue cases in the different barangays and allow timely technical and medical assistance.
Lubreca said there will be a continuous upgrade of the surveillance system as the data gathered from the barangays is revised.
