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Information technology has become an essential part of outbreak management, but its true value shows when it is adapted to local realities/contexts. During the COVID-19 response in refugee camps, I witnessed how health informatics could make a meaningful difference despite many challenges. Camps were overcrowded, people moved frequently, electricity and internet were unreliable and much of the response relied on trained camp-based assistants such as medics and community health workers. To address these challenges, we developed a Health Information System (HIS) for our team/organization (including managers, HIS/database officers, M&E, lab, nurses, community outreach) tailored specifically to this setting.
Outbreak Detection: With no reliable online platforms, community health workers recorded symptoms and case information on paper, which were later entered into the HIS whenever connectivity was available. The system was not sophisticated but it allowed us to detect unusual clusters of fever or respiratory illness quickly and act before situations escalated.
Response: The HIS also helped us allocate scarce resources more effectively. By tracking suspected and confirmed cases across camp zones, we could prioritize where to send test kits, open isolation areas, or reinforce protective measures. Sharing this same data with partners and authorities improved coordination and reduced duplication, ensuring more consistent and timely responses. By doing so, this helped us avoid problems of fragmentation such as duplicated or inconsistent data, communication gap, and delays in response. Using the same data across partners also made coordination and collaboration smoother.
Control: Just as importantly, the information proved useful for the communities themselves. When clusters were identified, community health workers used the data to deliver targeted health messages in affected areas. This built trust and encouraged adherence to preventive measures, an essential factor in such fragile environments.
From this experience, I learned that health informatics is about having systems which can be integrated, interoperable, sharing, collaborative, and representative that can turn information into effective action. In refugee camps, a locally designed HIS combined with the dedication of community health workers became one of our most effective system for COVID-19 detection, response, and control.
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With an academic background in human health and health policy, along with professional experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning, I have public health knowledge in both communicable and non-communicable diseases. In particular, I have worked extensively with communicable diseases such as HIV/TB, malaria, and COVID-19, and developed adequate skills in disease response and prevention. In addition, I have adequate knowledge of data and statistics, as well as in areas of data handling, security, and communication. However, I need to strengthen my knowledge and skills in IT and information science to effectively integrate my expertise and generate actionable insights for decision makers/policymakers in responding to public health threats. Since my role is limited to management, I need to expand my capacity in organizational behavior, human resources, and communication, particularly in collaborating with experts in epidemiology/public health officials, IT, web development, and in engaging stakeholders/targeted audiences. These competencies are essential for advancing public health informatics, as effective and efficient responses to health threats at individual, national, and global levels also depend on them. We can see that COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrated the importance of such capabilities.
Last but not least, I need to deepen my understanding of the contemporary political landscape and the priorities/interests of key stakeholders, including political leaders, policymakers, and experts from clinical and public health fields, to ensure that I can provide timely, relevant information to support public health decision-making and effective responses. -
If I were a hospital director or executive, I would plan to move the hospital information system to cloud computing for the following reasons. I would choose the PaaS service model as it allows us to manage our own applications and patient, doctor, and hospital operation data, while the cloud provider takes care of storage, runtime, servers, and networking. This setup reduces the risk of data loss and strengthens security.
At the same time, we would still retain control over essential hospital functions such as appointment systems, referrals, duty rosters, and patient records, etc. Another advantage is cost efficiency, cloud computing can reduce both operational and IT expenses.
However, before and during implementation, it is important to establish clear standard operating procedures, guidelines, and policies to ensure data security, protect against breaches, and provide proper maintenance. This will help the system remain sustainable, secure, and cost-effective in the long run for the hospital. -
In my experience, the most common cyber threats I’ve come across at work are phishing emails. They usually look like official messages and try to trick people into clicking a link or sharing sensitive information. Luckily, my organization provides regular training on cybersecurity awareness which has helped me and my colleagues spot suspicious emails right away. The best practice we follow is to report them as phishing to IT so they can take action. Over time, this became a habit and reduced the risk of anyone falling for them.
I also had a personal experience with a cyberattack. One day during a meeting, I suddenly received five SMS messages from my bank, each a few minutes apart, showing money being withdrawn through Apple Pay. I realized immediately that my account had been hacked. I contacted the bank right away, reported the unauthorized withdrawals, and had my account deactivated. I also changed my Apple account password and removed my banking details.
That incident made me much more cautious about data protection. Since then, I always check privacy policies before sharing personal information, make sure my computer and apps are updated, and regularly change my passwords. These small but consistent actions give me more confidence that I’m protecting my information.
From these experiences, I’ve learned that cyber threats can happen anywhere, at work or in daily life but quick action and preventive habits make a big difference. Awareness, training, and personal vigilance are the best defenses, and they’re practices I believe everyone can benefit from.
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Hi everyone! I am Wah Wah Lwin from Myanmar, and you can call me Wah Wah for short. I obtained my bachelor degree in Medicine, a postgraduate diploma in Research Studies, and master degree in Public Policy with Health specialization. My work background has been mainly focused on Monitoring and Evaluation for over a decade in NGO settings, with an emphasis on HIV prevention and malaria elimination program in Myanmar, and also malaria elimination program in Thailand (Thai-Myanmar borders) with PR-DDC, and higher education for One Health in the Southeast Asia region. I believe this BHI program will enhance my skills in information management and support my career growth in the future. So, I am truly looking forward to learning and sharing experiences with all of you!
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If I were to build a medical app for patients and doctors as part of the hospital system or workflow, I would choose to build a LAN client/server application for the following reasons.
Firstly, we need to think about the importance of information sharing, particularly in terms of data security and confidentiality. Sensitive patient information, such as patient IDs, medical records, and treatment histories, should be kept confidential and only accessed by authorized medical persons. Thus, these data should comply with strict confidentiality rules. Meanwhile, general information (outside patients medical records by doctors) can be accessed by those involved in the hospital system or workflow. A LAN client/server app keeps the data within the hospital network, which can reduce the risk of breaches.In addition, a hierarchy of information and role-based access, implemented through a relational database system fits well with hospital operation system. This ensures patient data remains accurate, consistent, and better coordinated across the hospital.
Secondly, a LAN client/server application has a relatively lower installation cost, yet offers high-speed components and fast, stable communication (often faster and more reliable than web-based applications). It also provides a secure operating environment for hospital system. However, regular network maintenance and data backups, carried out by IT professionals are essential to protect all patient records and prevent data loss or breaches.
Finally, standard operating procedures/data security protocols should be firmly in place as part of the hospital system. By considering a LAN client/server application integrated with a relational database, the hospital can improve workflow efficiency, protect sensitive information, and deliver faster, more reliable services to patients. This not only improves data security but also improves medical outcomes through better information sharing, monitoring, and analysis.
Please feel free to respond my thoughts!
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Based from my working experience from previous (Non-Profit) organization, I ‘d like to discuss the following points from the Information System (IS). Recently, I worked for Southeast Asia One Health University Network, where the network is comprised of eight universities networks from Southeast Asia member countries. As a network, we support One Health higher education to strengthen professional capacity in addressing emerging diseases both nationally and regionally. To achieve this goal, each component of the IS framework plays an important role. While IS was in place, some components still needed improvement to achieve better outcomes. If we breakdown IS components from the highest to the lowest priority:
1. People: Although the network involved academics and professionals from various fields, there were gaps in capacity and knowledge, particularly in IT-related skills. Even though hardware and software were available, not everyone could use them effectively. Language was also a challenge, participants had different levels of proficiency, and many relied solely on local languages (e.g. Khmer, Bahasa, Laos, etc.). To address this, training should be provided in both technical areas and translating into local languages to help reduce communication barriers.
2. Data: Although the network collected both quantitative and qualitative data, much of it was not effectively turned into useful information. This was due to inconsistent data collection practices, low data quality, and the lack of standardized data management protocols across the university network. Data collection methods also varied. For example, some teams used paper-based tools in resource-limited settings, while others used digital tools with limited data security. To improve this, clear data collection guidelines should be introduced, along with regular monitoring and supervision to ensure reliable data that can be used to inform decision-making.
3. Process: Even though protocols were in place to manage collected data, we were not able to fully utilize it to create impactful insights. The procedures and technical capacity differed among university networks. To solve this, it is important to apply common protocols and procedures across the network so that the data collected can be turned into meaningful information for decision-makers and the wider public.
4. Software: Each university network used different softwares (e.g. Microsoft, One Drive, Google Drive, Box, Jotform, Canva, etc.), depending on their preferences. This created problems when working together, as inconsistent systems made collaboration less efficient. For instance, during the COVID-19 response, it was difficult to obtain real-time data on activities led by different university networks because of the lack of a unified reporting system. To improve future responses, we need to considers to streamline systems to support collaboration and allow faster and more accurate information sharing.
5. Hardware: Although the university networks face fewer problems with hardware compared to other IS components, we should consider upgrading performance and durability to ensure cost-effectiveness.
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I like your strategy to gradually move to cloud computing since it would take significant time to move paper records to the cloud computing, as well as capacity of the Human Resources matter. Also I agree with your point on using PaaS service model in minimizing workloads on server management and security. Strict and strong policies on handling this system should be in place for smooth transition as well.
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Hi Aung!
Thanks for your f/u questions on my experience on this personal cyberattack. Regarding your question, this issue was happened 3 years ago, and I am not so sure what was the root cause of this issue, as some people also had the same experience with the payment (with Apple account) at that time, particularly with the specific banking (Kasikorn bank). So, I think it could be the security issue of mobile banking system, coz Apple devices are designed to be highly secured as far as I am aware of.
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Hi Siriluk!
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas. I think that sounds contemporary, particularly in high, and middle income countries. For patients those have basic technological knowledge, it’s a great approach for hospital settings. On the other hand, for those who do not have enough tech knowledge, may be from the hospital operation team, should consider clients’ awareness regarding application. Otherwise, hospital operating side might face challenges, such as consultation, appointments issues. However, if we could consider those risks and how to address them during the design phase of app development, it’s a great benefit for the clients 🙂
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Hi Jenny! Thanks for sharing current practices in the Philippines. It’s good to know!
Yep, in terms of patients’ feasibility and service delivery by the hospital system, I also view that mobile app is convenient and satisfactory for the patients. Also, service providers can communicate with the patients effectively. As you mentioned, although this app might not be able to provide significantly impact on patients’ outcomes (due to ethical standards, patients’ data confidentiality, etc.), it might enhance the patients-hospital relationships and trust, which is important for hospital settings. On the other hand, since this approach might have higher cost to install, it’s good to consider several factors (including cost, technicians, maintenance, data security, etc.) for the long-term operation. -
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I agree with your points while we are talking about IS in Myanmar. Particularly, data quality issue is one of the most problematic issues in PHC referral and IS. Although the assigned staffs are provided series of training, we frequently encounter man-made errors/ignorance overtimes. This could lead to wrong/misinformation to the authorities who are directly involved in the decision making process.
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