INTRODUCTION : The surveillance system is the armour of public health and preventive medicine. In India surveillance is monitored in real-time through the Integrated Health Information Platforms Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme(IHIP-IDSP). Effective implementation and surveillance depend on the efficiency of the healthcare providers at all levels from peripheral reporting units to the State surveillance units(SSU). The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of the Surveillance units of Tamil Nadu in IHIP-IDSP.
METHODOLOGY : This cross-sectional study was carried out using the data extracted from the IHIP-IDSP platform from 2021 to 2023 after obtaining official permission from the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results are expressed as frequency and proportion for categorical variables and mean and standard deviation for continuous variables.
RESULTS : There has been a rapid improvement in reporting in the IHIP-IDSP with the number of units reporting, consistency, and quality of the reporting units. The number of units reporting increased from less than 10% at initiation to more than 90% in 2023. Improvement in flagging of events and urban mapping is to be improved. There has been a rapid improvement in the consistency of reporting, and the quality of reporting is improving at a steady phase.
CONCLUSION : The overall performance of the state has been improved but it lacks quality in certain fields. It has to be improved with proper sensitization measured with training and retraining sessions with pre and post-training assessment and mock drills to improve hands-on skills.