I. Abstract
In Vietnam, with great concerns and efforts, the Government and World Health Organization (WHO) have put many action plans into operation in order to control and rollback dangerous infectious diseases, especially malaria. The National Malaria Control Program has carried out National Malaria control and elimination strategy since 2011 towards 2020. However, the malaria control activities from the Malaria Control Stage to the Malaria Control and Elimination stage encountered some certain difficulties, especially the malaria cases Informing - Reporting works. At this moment, the National Malaria Control program has been conducting simultaneously two forms of real-time case reporting for malaria reporting due to Decision 741/QÄ-BYT March 02nd 2016 and Circular 54/2015/TT-BYT. In order to evaluate the real situation, advantages and disadvantages in malaria cases Informing - Reporting works in health levels of Central - Western Highlands region, progress towards proposing solutions, plans to enhance the application of information and technology in manage and control malaria, consequently the system enhancement and malaria cases investigation in Central - Western Highlands region have been conducted with following two objectives:
1. To evaluate the real situation of malaria cases Informing - Reporting works in health levels of some Central - Western Highlands provinces.
2. To collect the opinions, suggestions oÂn enhancing reporting quality of health staff who take charge of cases informing and reporting.
II. Composition of the delegations, locations and time:
2.1. Composition of the delegations and locations:
- Quang Binh and Gia Lai province
1. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ho Van Hoang, Vice Director, Delegation leader
2. M.D. Le Thanh Tam, Department of Malaria Epidemiology
3. Technician Tran Nhan Nghia, Department of Malaria Epidemiology
- Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak Province:
1.MSc. Trinh Huu Toan, Department of Malaria Epidemiology, Degelation leader;
2. BSc. To Ngoc Hai, Department of Malaria Epidemiology;
3. Technician Vo Phuong Quy, Department of Malaria Epidemiology.
- Phu Yen and Dak Nong Province:
1. Nguyen Duy Son, Vice Head of Department of Malaria Epidemiology, Degelation leader;
2. M.D. Phan Minh Huan, Department of Malaria Epidemiology,
3. Physician Hoang Van Hai, Department of Malaria Epidemiology
2.2. Duration: October 2017
Fig 1: Map of the provinces where the investigations were carried out.
2.3. The health networks in charge of malaria cases Informing - Reporting
The malaria cases Informing- Reporting system of health organizations from the Central levels to local levels was operated under:
2.3.1. Documents issued by the Ministry of Health:
- Decision No. 741/QD-BYT issued oÂn March 02nd, 2016 oÂn “Manual oÂn malaria control and monitoring†(Briefly called QÄ 741).
- Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BYT issued oÂn December 28th, 2015 oÂn “Guideline oÂn regulations of reporting information and declaration of communicable diseases/epidemics†(Briefly called TT 54).
2.3.2. Reporting forms of the Projects related to Malaria Control:
Some Projects oÂn Malaria Control that have been deployed in some provinces of the Central - Western Highlands region such as Global Fund Malaria Control Project, Regional Artemisinin-resistance Initiative (RAI), Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) Vietnam, Greater Mekong Subregion Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project funded by ADB Bank…
2.3.3. The current malaria cases Informing - Reporting system of the health organizations
Within the framework of the contents, the assignments of the delegations in monitoring reports counting system in 6 provinces (Quang Binh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong) are mainly focused into the informing - reporting system and malaria cases investigation according to the 2 documents issued by the Ministry of Health: Decision No. 741/QÄ-BYT and Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BYT.
2.2.3.1. The malaria cases Informing- Reporting system deployed in accordance with Decision No. 741/QÄ-BYT
a. Private clinics, village health workers… inform the local Commune Health Station immediately when they detect malaria patients.
b. The Commune Health Station will receive, investigate, verify the information and report the locally recorded malaria data to the District Health Center as the following time frame:
- Malaria cases reporting: Complete and send reports within 48 hours since the detection of Malaria Parasite positive case (detected by blood sample test or/and rapid test diagnose).
- Update the information of the malaria cases reports: When receive the list of malaria cases who resided in the locality but received diagnosis and treatment in another place provided by the District Health Center, the Commune Health Station will investigate, verify the information, simultaneously make reports oÂn the cases and submit them to the superior levels within 48h since detection.
c. The District hospitals make reports, update malaria information of their facilities to the District Health Center as soon as possible.
d. The District Health Centers summarize the malaria data from Commune Health Stations, District hospitals and submit their reports to the superior levels.
e. The Provincial Preventive Medicine Centers, Provincial Malaria Control Centers summarize the reports, update the information and submit these data to the Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology Quy Nhon and National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology.
g. Methods of submitting reports:
- Commune Health Stations, District Health Centers, Provincial Malaria Control Centers/Preventive Medicine Centers submit their reports to the superior levels via paper documents, email, telephone.
- Provincial hospitals, district hospitals submit reports to the Provincial Malaria Control Centers/Preventive Medicine Centers, District Health Centers mainly via direct phone call.
- Private clinics, village health workers submit information to the Commune health stations via direct phone call, monthly meeting between Commune health stations and village health workers.
The malaria cases Informing - Reporting system deployed in accordance with Decision No. 741/QÄ-BYT is depicted in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2: Diagram of the malaria cases Informing - Reporting system
2.2.3.2. The malaria cases Informing - Reporting system deployed in accordance with Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BYT
The malaria cases Informing - Reporting system deployed in accordance with Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BYT was operated in the health facilities of Central - Western Highlands region via the oÂnline reporting software Communicable diseases monitoring and reporting system that was developed and managed by the General Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, with the website: baocaobtn.vncdc.gov.vn. The information of the cases from the health facilities submitted to the Communicable diseases monitoring and reporting system will be preserved in a shared database; the superior health organizations could access and analyze the data of the subordinate organizations. The time frame in which the cases are reported is defined in the Appendix 1 of the Circular which wrote that malaria cases are required to be reported within 48h since the first detection of the cases (including clinical and plasmodium-positive malaria cases). The organizational diagram of the malaria cases Informing - Reporting system deployed in accordance with Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BYT is depicted in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3: The organizational diagram of the communicable diseases Informing - Reporting system
III. Results of the investigation
3.1. Evaluation oÂn the real situation of the malaria cases Informing - Reporting works in the health levels of some provinces in the Central - Western Highlands region
3.1.1. Human resources of the health levels involved in the informing - reporting works
3.1.1.1 Human resources of the provincial levels (Provincial Malaria Control Centers/Preventive Medicine Centers)
Table 3.1: Some general information of the staff involved in informing-reporting works of provincial levels
| Provinces | Qualification | Year of birth | Length of service | Years of informing-reporting works |
| Male | Female |
| Quang Binh | Engineer of Biotechnology | | 1986 | 6 years | 6 years |
| Phu Yen | Nursing (vocational training) | | 1984 | 8 years | 6 years |
| Khanh Hoa | General Physician | 1995 | | 1 year | 1 month |
| Gia Lai | Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering | 1981 | | 10 years | 1 year |
| Dak Lak | General Physician | 1960 | | 30 years | 15 years |
| Dak Nong | General Physician | 1986 | | 7 years | 1 year |
Remarks: The qualification of the provincial staff involved in informing-reporting works in 6 provinces:
- Numbers of graduate staff: 2/6 staff, account for 33.33%, 66.67% staff with vocational training
- Numbers of staff received education in medical profession: 5/6 staff, account for 83.33%.
- Numbers of female staff: 2/6 staff, account for 33.33%.
- The average years of working in the health facilities are from 6 - 10 years, the shortest time is 1 year and the longest time is 30 years.
- The average years involved in malaria reporting works are from 1 - 6 years, the shortest time is 1 month and the longest time is 15 years.
The young staff (short length of service) and non-specialist staff (who are not specialized in medical profession) of the centers are supervised and instructed by the senior and experienced staff in reporting works
Furthermore, the staff who take charge of informing - reporting works in Department of Epidemiology of provincial Malaria Control Center or Department of Malariology of provincial Preventive Medicine Center also assume other assignments such as epidemiological monitoring, scientific studying, training and educating the subordinate levels, etc. so their workloads is relatively heavy.
3.1.1.2.Human resources of the district levels
Table 3.2: Some general information of the district staff involved in the informing - reporting works.
| Districts | Qualification | Year of birth | Length of service | Years of informing - reporting works |
| Male | Female |
| Tuyen Hoa-Quang Binh | Level-I Specialist Doctor | 1983 | | 8 years | 7 years |
| Song Hinh-Phu Yen | General Physician | 1974 | | 21 years | 21 years |
| Khanh Son-Khanh Hoa | General Physician | 1986 | | 5 years | 3 years |
| Krong Pa-Gia Lai | Bachelor of Science in Nursing | 1973 | | 21 years | 11 years |
| Ea Soup-Dak Lak | Bachelor of Public Health | 1977 | | 16 years | 12 years |
| Tuy Duc-Dak Nong | Lab Technician | 1982 | | 8 years | 7 years |
Remarks: The qualification of the provincial staff involved in informing-reporting works in 6 provinces:
- Number of postgraduate staff: 1/6 staff, accounts for 16.67%, numbers of graduate staff: 2/6, account for 33.33%, numbers of staff with vocational training: 3/6, account for 50%.
- 100% the staff were educated in medical profession.
- 100% district staff involved in reporting works are male.
- The shortest time of working in the health facilities is 5 years and longest time is 21 years.
- The shortest time involved in malaria reporting works is 3 years, and longest time is 21 years.
With the quality of the current district staff involved in Informing - Reporting works, they could undertake the Informing - Reporting works as well as capable of analyze, predict malaria situation and easily apply, update the new information when the regulations of Informing - Reporting works are modified.
3.1.1.3.Commune Human Resources
Table 3.3: Some general information of the commune staff
| Communes of the provinces | Qualification | Sex | Length of Service | Years of informing - reporting works |
| University | Vocational Training | Male | Female |
| Quang Binh | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8-12 years | 2 months - 10 years |
| Phu Yen | | 3 | 3 | | 9 - 15 years | 9 - 15 years |
| Khanh Hoa | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3-5 years | 3-4 years |
| Gia Lai | 2 | 1 | 3 | | 11- 15 years | 3 months - 2 years |
| Dak Lak | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5-11 years | 2-5 years |
| Dak Nong | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 1-11 năm | 1-11 years |
| Total | 4 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 9 years (1 - 15 years) | 5 years (2 months-15 years) |
Remarks: The delegations have monitored 18 communes of 6 districts of 6 provinces including:
1.Tuyen Hoa district - Quang Binh province: Huong Hoa, Chau Hoa and Kim Hoa commune.
2.Song Hinh district - Phu Yen province: Ea Ly, Ea Bar, Ea Lam commune.
3.Khanh Son district - Khanh Hoa province: Son Hiep, Ba Cum Bac and Thanh Son commune.
4.Krong Pa district - Gia Lai province: Dat Bang, Ia M’Lah and Chu R’Cam commune.
5.Ea Sup district - Dak Lak province: Cu M’Lan, Ca K’Bang and Ea Le commune.
6.Tuy Duc district - Dak Nong province: Quang Truc, Dak Buk So and Quang Tan commune.
Of the all 18 staff who are involved in Informing - Reporting works, 100% staff were educated in medical profession, including:
- Numbers of graduate staff: 4/18 staff, account for 22.22%, 14/18 staff received vocational training, account for 77.78%.
- Male staff: 12/18, account for 66.67%, female staff, account for 33.33%.
- The communal staff’s average years of working are 9 years, the shortest time is 1 year and the longest time is 15 years.
- The average years involved in malaria reporting works are 5 years, with shortest time is 2 months and longest time is 15 years.
On the whole, the commune staff involved in the Informing - Reporting works don’t have considerable length of service, most of them are young and dynamic staff. The Informing - Reporting works were performed oÂn the computers with internet connection, which is very comfortable. oÂn the other hand, the result of the delegations’ supervision has shown that most of the commune staff involved in Informing - Reporting works use smartphones, or 100% of the staff of the Health Stations use smartphones. This could bring advantages for the Malaria Control activities in order to apply information technology in monitoring, managing, informing, reporting, etc. for the deployment in the communes.
3.1.2. Real situation of the information technology of the communes
Table 3.4: Real situation of the information technology of the communes
| Provinces | Communes | Certificates of Information Technology | Office Computer | Computer | Internet Connection |
| Issued year | Supplier |
| Quang Binh | Chau Hoa | A | 2012 | District Health Center | Good | Yes |
| Huong Hoa | A | 2012 | Good | Yes |
| Kim Hoa | A | 2012 | Good | Yes |
| Phu Yen | Ea Lam | A | 2010 | District Health Center | Good | Yes |
| Ea Ly | B | 2010 | Good | Yes |
| Ea Ba | B | 2010 | Good | Yes |
| Khanh Hoa | Ba Cum Bac | B | 2017 | Global Fund Project | Good | Yes |
| Son Hiep | B | 2011 | District Health Center | Good | Yes |
| Thanh Son | B | 2011 | Good | Yes |
| Gia Lai | Dat Bang | A | 2012 | District Health Center | Good | Yes |
| Ia Mlah | A | 2012 | Good | Yes |
| Chu R’Cam | A | 2012 | Good | Yes |
| Dak Lak | Cu M’Lan | A | 2010 | District Health Center | Good | Yes |
| Cu Kbang | A | 2014 | Good | Yes |
| Ea Le | A | 2014 | Good | Yes |
| Dak Nong | Quang Truc | B | 2014 | District Health Center | Good | Yes |
| Dak Buk So | B | 2014 | Good | Yes |
| Quang Tan | B | 2014 | Good | Yes |
Remarks:
- 100% of the commune staff received Microsoft Office training, including 8/18 staff (44.44%) earned B level certificates and 10/18 staff (55.56%) earned A level cerfiticates in Microsoft Office.
- 100% of the commune health station have computers with internet connection to serve in Informing - Reporting works, diagnosing and treating diseases and medicine management, mass vaccination management, sending official documents and related documents… All of these computers work well. They are supplied by many sources such as district Health Center
- Global Fund projects. The length of time is around 1 - 7 years since the supplied date to the date when the surveillance was carried out.
- Moreover, each staff will be in charge of 2-3 medical programs, each program consists of many activities (in the National Malaria Control and Elimination Program, they will submit some forms of report in accordance with the Decision 741, Circular 54, insecticides impregnating and spraying in vector control, bed-nets survey, etc.; in addition, the projects related to malaria control such as RAI project, Global Fund project and so oÂn also require report submitting) so that the Informating - Reporting works are extremely hard for them.
3.1.3. Real situation of the malaria cases reporting of the health levels
3.1.3.1. Cases reporting works of commune levels
Table 3.5: Cases reporting works by commune levels according to Decision 741
| Provinces | Communes | Methods of reporting | Methods of submitting | Time frames of submitting |
| Quang Binh | Chau Hoa | Not done yet | | |
| Huong Hoa | Not done yet | | |
| Kim Hoa | Not done yet | | |
| Phu Yen | Ea Lam | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Ea Ly | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Ea Ba | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Khanh Hoa | Ba Cum Bac | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Son Hiep | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Thanh Son | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Gia Lai | Dat Bang | Via paper documents or phone call | Verbal communication | <48 hours |
| Ia Mlah | Via paper documents or phone call | Verbal communication | <48 hours |
| Chu R’Cam | Via paper documents or phone call | Verbal communication | <48 hours |
| Dak Lak | Cu M’Lan | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Cu Kbang | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Ea Le | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Dak Nong | Quang Truc | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Dak Buk So | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
| Quang Tan | MS Word | Email | <48 hours |
Remarks: In the commune health stations where the delegations carried out the surveillance, excluding the Health stations of Quang Binh province where the reporting works have not been deployed, the remaining health stations carried out reporting works in accordance with Decision 741. The health stations of the provinces: Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Dak Nong say that the reports were generated right after the detection of patients oÂn the Microsoft Word software, subsequently the reports are submitted to the district Health Center via email as soon as possible (generally few hours after the detection and prior to 48 hours as regulated). Afterwards the reports will be printed into 2 copies which will be stamped by the Health station, oÂne copy will be stored in the Health station, the other copy will be submitted to the district Health Center in the monthly meetings between district Health Center and commune health stations. oÂnly in 3 Health stations of Krong Pa district - Gia Lai province, the reports are compiled oÂn papers (no computers involved), subsequently the commune staff deliver them to the district Health Center, specifically the staff who are in charge of malaria in the district levels or via phone call to these staff and all reports must be delivered prior to 48 hours. According to the Krong Pa district Health Center of Gia Lai province, oÂnly 50% of the health stations submit reports via email, the other stations submit reports via phone call or paper documents to the district levels prior to 48 hours.
In addition, the commune Health stations also receive the information of Malaria Cases from the cross-sectional survey groups and submit reports oÂn these cases.
3.1.3.2.Cases reporting works of district levels
Table 3.6: Cases reporting works by district levels according to Decision 741
| Districts | Informing - Reporting activities | Methods of submitting | Time frames |
| Tuyen Hoa - Quang Binh | Not done yet | | |
| Song Hinh - Phu Yen | -Receive the information of patients from the communes -Check the information of the reported cases -Report oÂn the cases detected in the district hospitals -Sum up the reports from the communes and submit them to the superior levels. | MS Word - Email | <48 hours |
| Khanh Son - Khanh Hoa | MS Word - Email | <48 hours |
| Krong Pa - Gia Lai | MS Word - Email | <48 hours |
| Ea Soup - Dak Lak | MS Word - Email | <48 hours |
| Tuy Duc - Dak Nong | MS Word - Email | <48 hours |
Remarks: The cases reports submitted by the communes, the staff who are in charge of malaria will receive:
- Regarding the reports submitted via email (send MS Word files and attach the reporting content as regulated) by the commune levels, the district health staff check the information of the report. Regarding the reports with insufficient or inaccurate information, the district health staff will contact the commune staff who made the report to verify the information. Afterwards the reports will be completed and submitted to the superior levels promptly.
- Regarding the reports submitted via paper documents of phonecalls by the commune levels, the health staff input the reporting content into the computer through MS Word software. Other works such as double-checking the contents, verifying the information and submitting the reports to the superior levels are carried out as mentioned above.
- Regarding the patients who were detected and treated in the district hospital, the health staff collect patients’ information and compare with the cases reported by the commune levels in order to detect the duplicated cases and exclude these cases. Afterwards the district healthstaff will input the reporting content into the computer oÂn MS Word software and submit the reports to the superior levels.
3.1.3.3. Deployment of cases reporting of provincial levels
Table 3.7: Deployment of cases reporting of provincial levels
| Provinces | Cases reporting according to Decision 741 | Deploying time | Cases reporting according to Circular 54 | Period |
| Quang Binh | Not done yet | | Conducted | 2016 |
| Phu Yen | Conducted | Jan. 2017 | Conducted | 2016 |
| Khanh Hoa | Conducted | Jan. 2017 | Conducted | 2016 |
| Gia Lai | Conducted | May 2017 | Conducted | 2016 |
| Dak Lak | Conducted | Jan. 2017 | Conducted | 2016 |
| Dak Nong | Conducted | Jan. 2017 | Conducted | 2016 |
Remarks:
- Regarding the cases reporting in accordance with Circular 54, all the provinces have conducted since the middle of 2016. The provinces with Department of Malariology belong to provincial Preventive Medicine Center (Phu Yen, Dak Nong) produced reports which are monitored and managed by the Department of Epidemic Control, the staff of the Department of Malariology haven’t been trained as well as provided accounts to be able to manage. The cases information will be provided by the Department of Epidemic Control. The provinces with Malaria Control Center (Quang Binh, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak), the staff of the Department of Epidemiology will be trained oÂn case reporting in accordance with Circular 54 and be provided accounts to be able to manage.
- 5/6 provinces have conducted case reporting in accordance with Decision 741 since the time when the suiveillance were carried out. oÂnly Quang Binh province hasn’t produced these reports because the provincial Malaria Control Center don’t have enough budget to train ther subordinate staff. Other provinces such as Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong have conducted since January of 2017.
In addition, the malaria cases reporting works in accordance with Decision 741 encountered some troubles during the operation:
- The cases are detected by the commune Health Station oÂn Friday evening - the weekend time when the medical staff don’t go to work, in Saturday and Sunday the malaria-specialized staff don’t go to work and therefore the reports could not be done, which means that the reports will be completed until the Monday of the following week. In the other hand, oÂn Saturdays and Sundays the staff of the district Health Center don’t go to work, therefore the reports receiving and statistical works must wait until the following week to be done, which causes the time frame of reporting to exceed 48 hours.
- At present the hospitals including district hospitals and provincial hospitals don’t make cases reports in accordance with the Decision 741. Regarding the hospitals, the province will deliver patient information to the provincial Preventive Medicine Centers/Malaria Control Centers, subsequently the provincial Preventive Medicine Centers/Malaria Control Centers will feedback to the communes for them to make the cases reports. It is extremely difficult for the provincial Preventive Medicine Centers/Malaria Control Centers to get the malaria cases information from the provincial hospitals. Some provincial-level staff who are in charge of making reports monthly must go to the Departments of General Planning - Provincial Hospitals to generate statistics of the cases of that month (because lots of provincial hospitals don’t actively submit reports to the Preventive Medicine Centers/Malaria Control Centers). Therefore, in order to achieve the information of malaria cases from the provincial hospitals, the centers must take longer time than the regulated time.
3.1.3.4. Proportion of completing cases reports of the provinces in the first 9 months of 2017
Table 3.8: Proportion of completed cases reports
| No. | Provinces | Malaria cases in 9 months 2017 | Survey | Proportion |
| 1 | Quang Binh | 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Phu Yen | 34 | 34 | 100% |
| 3 | Khanh Hoa | 100 | 69 | 69% |
| 4 | Gia Lai | 300 | 180 | 60% |
| 5 | Dak Lak | 239 | 239 | 100% |
| 6 | Dak Nong | 147 | 147 | 100% |
| 7 | Binh Thuan | 70 | 68 | 97.14% |
| 8 | Da Nang | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| | Total | 976 | 739 | 75.72% |
Remarks: The reports oÂn the cases collected from 8 surveyed provinces show that: 739 submitted reports along with 967 surveyed cases of the first nine months made up the proportion of 75.72% reports that were completed. 4 provinces submitted reports with the proportion of 100% including: Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Da Nang city. oÂnly Quang Binh province has not made any reports. Khanh Hoa province submitted reports with the proportion of 69%, result from the fact that the province has deployed the cases reporting works since January 2017, however some districts could not deploy in time and until March of 2017 all the districts of Khanh Hoa province could ultimately submit reports. Gia Lai province deployed the reporting works since May 2017, therefore the proportion of submitted reports is 60%. Regarding the information displayed in the reports are relatively detailed. Most of the reports lacked the information about patient codes, contact phone numbers.
3.2. Collecting opinions, suggestion oÂn the quality of the reports made by the staff in charge of cases informing - reporting works
- The reporting forms have some checkboxes which cause difficult for the commune health staff to tick, so it is necessary to have a user-friendly form.
- Patient codes: Some health staff find it difficult when fill in the patient codes for some reasons:
- According to Decision 741, the method of naming the patient codes is not regulated so that each locality has different code, especially some localities leave this section empty. In September 2017, according to the results of the workshop oÂn Malaria control and elimination in Central - Western Highlands region, the patient code naming method is regulated in Circular 54 as following: inputting the malaria cases reporting according to Circular 54 first and then get the patient codes, and these codes will be inserted into the malaria cases reports according to Decision No 741.
- Some districts have not deployed Cirular 54 to the commune levels, therefore the cases reporting works in arcorrdance with Circula 54 must be done by district staff. Therefore, the commune health stations when compile the case reports in accordance with Decision 741 will leave the patient codes empty, subsequently these reports will be submitted to the district level and the district staff will spend a great deal of time to find patient codes and fill in, which would waste so much time and efforts of the district staff. In the other hand, some district malaria-specialized staff were not trained in Communicable disease reporting software in accordance with Circular 54 so that they could not get the patient codes as agreed in the content of the Workshop oÂn Malaria control and elimination in Central - Western Highlands region.
- The reporting form is relatively long, some information should be cut down such as Sentence 8, 20, 21, 22. More specific:
- Sentence 8: “Workplace and study place†à unnecessary because the last sentence of the report “assessment of the reporting staff: of the contaminated place, pathogen, diagnosis, patient situation and related epidemiological factors†mentioned sufficiently.
- Sentence 20: “Has the patient contracted malaria before?â€, Sentence 21: “Does any member of the patient’s family catch fever?â€, Sentence 22: “Does any oÂne who lives near the patient catch fever/malaria?†à should be moved to the Form 2 “Report oÂn investigating malaria parasite caseâ€.
- In the cases that the health staff could not compile reports oÂn the computer to submit via email, the prioritized method of submitting reports is sending the image files of the paper reports to the superior levels via some free messaging applications (these applications run oÂn the popular smartphones nowadays) (Ther reports are written into Form 1, afterwards the reports are captured by smartphones and the images of these reports are submitted to the superior levels).