Jipmer is one of the tertiary care reporting centres for dengue under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The IDSP was launched in 2004 in the country to detect and quickly respond to disease outbreaks.
A Central Surveillance Unit was integrated into the nodal centre for the IDSP, the National Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC), New Delhi. State and district surveillance data is collected regularly at reporting centres and sent to the NCDC.
“Since the setting up of the IDSP, there is better integration between the State and the Centre and the reporting process has become streamlined. The government is able to plan better for disease control,” says Premarajan KC, Head, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jipmer. The list of conditions which have to be reported varies, with some of them required by the Central government and some to be reported to the State governments depending on the season.
At present, Jipmer collects data for various conditions which include dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, Typhus, Hepatitis B and C and Viral Hepatitis A and E. Data on dengue is reported on a daily basis to NCDC.
A spike in number of cases show increased awareness of dengue, said Dr. Premarajan, adding that there is improved detection, reporting and testing now.
The government is able to plan better for disease control, says Head of Department of Preventive and
Social Medicine
