Evaluation of Syndromic Surveillance Systems in Singapore

Authors

  • Pengiran Hishamuddin Ministry of Health, Singapore , Singapore.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v6i1.5100

Abstract

We evaluated the Singapore Ministry of Health's syndromic surveillance programmes which included the monitoring of polyclinic and emergency department attendances for acute diarrheal illness, acute upper respiratory illness, influenza-like illness, and acute conjunctivitis, to assess their attributes and identify areas of improvement. We found the current systems useful in tracking unusual increases in number of cases where both seasonality and short term trends were observable. The data provided by the surveillance systems were relatively accurate with minimal discrepancies. Representativeness was however lacking for primary healthcare facilities but not for hospitals. The existing syndromic surveillance systems are robust and can detect adverse public health events in an accurate and timely fashion. Nonetheless, they can be improved with introduction of new technologies and rolling out of electronic health records, integrating new and traditional information sources to provide faster, accurate data.

Author Biography

Pengiran Hishamuddin, Ministry of Health, Singapore , Singapore.

Dr Pengiran Hishamuddin is an Assistant Director with the Communicable Diseases Division in the Ministry of Health, Singapore. He oversees the surveillance, epidemiology, prevention and control programmes for communicable diseases, including the investigation and management of cases and outbreaks of infectious diseases in Singapore. Apart from this, he is involved in matters pertaining to Border Health and the One-Health Initiative in Singapore. In addition he assists in the coordination of the Singapore Field Epidemiology Training Programme and is a part-time practising clinician in infectious diseases. He studied medicine at the University of Nottingham in the UK and worked in emergency medicine before pursuing public health and epidemiology. He was a Fulbright Scholar and subsequently obtained a Masters of Public Health in epidemiology from Emory University. He has previously worked with the Ministry of Health in Brunei Darussalam and has been involved with ASEAN, WHO and UN on various initiatives related to communicable diseases.  Dr Hishamuddin research interests are mainly related to field epidemiology, surveillance and communicable diseases in particular emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

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Published

2014-03-09

How to Cite

Hishamuddin, P. (2014). Evaluation of Syndromic Surveillance Systems in Singapore. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v6i1.5100

Issue

Section

Oral Presentations