By Maya M. Padillo
DAVAO CITY — The Department of Health’s (DoH) Davao Region office is spending P2 million to set up a system for collecting complete, accurate, and timely information on health matters that will be used for drafting appropriate policies and programs.
DoH Regional Director Abdullah B. Dumama said the data system, called Davao Region Integrated Health Information System (DRIHIS), is intended to help the local public health sector in making decisions that are based on quality data.
“Wrong information will lead to wrong decision-making,” Mr. Dumama said.
He cited as examples the importance of having the right data on maternal and infant mortality rates, on human immunodeficiency virus cases, and infectious diseases
The DRIHIS will take into consideration both official data and unofficial verbal information collected at the communities.
“These are the things that we have to consider, that data should really be emphasized in the sense that all health workers should be given instructions on how data must be analyzed,” Mr. Abdullah said.
“For example, on the issue of the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR), there are reports that there is high CPR or artificial family planning.
If we gathered [data] that CPR is as high as 75%, pero bakit marami pa rin ang nanganganak (why is it that many women are still giving birth?). So the data is still not quality data,” he cited.
Data will be collected on a monthly basis while the system will be updated quarterly.
Data encoders and information analysts have been hired for the project while a doctor has been assigned to oversee the system.
Mr. Abdullah said all DoH representatives, members of the nurses deployment program, and public health associates have been directed to gather official and unofficial data. Representatives from the local governments have also been trained on data quality check (DQC).
The DoH regional office, according to Mr. Abdullah, will only accept data that have undergone a DQC from the municipalities and provinces.
