TMHG528 Wk4 Wannisa National Diabetes Surveillance System in Thailand

[Wannisa Wongkamchan]

The National Diabetes Mellitus Surveillance System in Thailand. This system helps manage the growing problem of diabetes in the country. It uses five methods: national, passive, sentinel, active, and syndromic surveillance. These methods collect data to find trends, detect new cases early, and create plans to prevent and manage diabetes better.

[Aung Thura Htoo]

Hello Wannisa, thank you sharing your proposed project for Diabetes with us. I like your data flow chart which clearly depicts your system. Having a sentinel site and actively seeking cases of diabetes can assist MoPH to identify more cases and unearth hitherto undetected cases. But in my opinion, having a syndromic surveillance system would be hard for the cases of diabetes as diabetes is a multifaceted disease with a wide-ranging symptoms. My question is “Do you have any symptoms selected for Diabetes syndromic surveillance system?”.

[Wannisa Wongkamchan]

Thank you for your feedback and question. Yes, I agree that the early symptoms of diabetes can overlap with other diseases, making syndromic surveillance challenging. So I have an idea to use AI to assist in screening for diabetes by combining symptom-based data with risk assessment information. For example, in Thailand, we have the Thai Risk Score developed by the Diabetes Association of Thailand. This approach can complement areas with limited access to laboratory diagnostics, enhance the accuracy of identifying high-risk individuals , and support early detection efforts.

The symptoms I plan to include in the syndromic surveillance system are derived from the IDF Diabetes Atlas (2021) and align with the typical symptoms of diabetes, such as:
1) Excessive thirst (polydipsia)
2) Frequent urination (polyuria) or bedwetting
3) Lack of energy or fatigue
4) Constant hunger
5) Sudden weight loss
6) Blurred vision
7) Diabetic ketoacidosis

[Aung Thura Htoo]

Hello Wannisa, thank you for sharing the selected symptoms for your surveillance system. Yes, using them in combination like if one meets four out of this seven symptoms will also be a great filter to select diabetes patients.

[Aye Thinzar Oo]

Hello Wannisa, thank you for sharing about the Diabetes Surveillance system in Thailand.
Challenges in diabetes disease – 200 deaths per day are severe.
I think it is a high rate.
In data Transfer methods, it is good and interesting about cloud solution, Mobile uploads and Automated Reporting Systems methods.

[Author]

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