NTHC Conducts Workshop on Internet-based Information System for Rabies

Tagaytay City, Philippines- The National Telehealth Center (NTHC) conducted a consultative workshop on the Internet-based National Rabies Information System (NaRIS) among health workers from Region 6, 7, 8, as well as representatives from the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Industry, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Ryan Julius Bañez shows the NaRIS interface to Dr. Raffy Deray during the NaRIS Users' Training Workshop.

NaRIS is a website where the general public can view and download relevant information on rabies. It has as an online bite registry where health workers in various treatment centers will input data and an inventory tracking function for vaccines. This system hopes to enhance data collection and storage, ease report generation and encourage use of aggregated data for planning and decision-making

The initiative sprung after the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) reported pervasive problems on rabies underreporting in the country.

“The challenge lies not on the availability of rabies vaccines delivered but on the reports needed for the intervention” explained Dr. Raffy Deray, NCDPC Rabies Program Coordinator during the training at the Development Academy of the Philippines. “Sometimes, first quarter reports which should have been reported earlier time of the year is being submitted on the third quarter; that’s how late it is,” Dr. Deray furthered.

Dr. Raffy Deray, NCDPC Rabies Program Coordinator , explains problems on rabies reporting in the country.

Implementations of rabies prevention programs in communities are often late or have become inappropriate by the time it is conducted in the area. Vaccine wa
During the focus grstage or shortage have been unavoidable due to delays in feedback mechanisms.

oup discussions at the workshop, participants unanimously expressed the need for a timely paper-less reporting and useful feedback in order to aid decision-making. As such, the NaRIS was met with a lot of excitement and hope.

Dr. Ryan Julius Bañez, NTHC eHealth Systems Analyst, introduced the website’s features and facilitated the demonstration-return-demonstration session. Other facilitators guided the participants in navigating the site. The participants generously gave their feedback on the system. These served as relevant inputs for further developing the system.

NaRIS is jointly developed by the DOH Infectious Disease Office – National Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the National Telehealth Center, in cooperation with the Department of Health National Epidemiology Center, Department of Health Management Information System, Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Industry through the generous support of the World Health Organization.

Trainees from City Health Departments of Region 6, 7, 8, as well as representatives from the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Industry, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the World Health Organization.

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