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During COVID-19, some researchers and governments around the world used anonymized mobile phone location data to track how people moved and whether lockdowns or travel restrictions were effective. These data that were collected from telecom operators and apps can show the aggregated patterns of population mobility rather than individual identities.
In Myanmar, this type of technology was used during the pandemic. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Telenor Myanmar collaborated in 2020 to analyze anonymized mobile mobility data to support the government’s COVID-19 response. These data helped public health authorities and researchers understand how people were moving between regions, especially during lockdown periods or religious holidays when internal travel increased.
Because Myanmar has very high mobile ownership, this tool provided a realistic, data-driven picture of population movement even in the absence of widespread testing or digital contact tracing apps. It allowed policymakers to better target stay-at-home orders, border control and resource allocation to areas at higher risk of transmission.Why it was important:
It helped to monitor compliance with lockdowns and travel restrictions.
It gave the real-time insight into urban/rural migration patterns during outbreaks.
It worked even in a context with limited internet access or low digital literacy, since it used existing telecom infrastructure. -
1. How can surveillance help to detect and control the disease?
The surveillance can help:
_The early detection of outbreaks: Continuous monitoring can help to identify unusual case cluster or new geographic spread that allow the rapid containment and vaccination or isolation measures.
_For understanding epidemiology: It can provide data on incidence, risk groups, transmission routes and reservoir patterns that are essential for targeted interventions and public health messaging.
_The monitoring trend and impact: It can assess the effectiveness of control measures and detect the re-emergence.
_The detection of mutation and resistance: Laboratory-based surveillance can identify new viral strains or changes in virulence.2. Should we conduct active or passive surveillance or both? Why?
We should conduct both. The passive surveillance can provide ongoing monitoring at low cost and can identify background incidence trend. The active surveillance is essential during outbreak to detect every case and interrupt transmission that is especially for an emerging or re-emerging disease.3. Which method should be best to identify cases, why?
a. The medical facility vs community:
We should practice both but priority should depend on outbreak context. The severe cases often present to medical facilities and so hospital-based reporting can efficiently detect serious infections. However, mild cases may stay in the community especially in resource-limited or rural and hard to reach area.
b. The sentinel vs population-based surveillance
The sentinel surveillance is efficient for early outbreak detection and monitoring trend and population-based surveillance can give more generalize incidence data of the population although it is costly.
c. The case-based vs aggregated surveillance
The case-based surveillance should be prioritized while it can collect detailed information on each case. The aggregate system can only count the number of case and cannot support detailed outbreak investigation.
Monkeypox requires case-based surveillance to understand transmission, contact and vaccination status.
d. The syndromic vs laboratory-confirmed surveillance
The syndromic surveillance allows rapid alerts in the field. Laboratory confirmation can ensure diagnostic accuracy and monitoring of viral strains. The combined use of syndromic surveillance for early detection and lab confirmation for verification should be done for outbreak-prone disease.4. What dissemination tools will you choose to disseminate monkeypox surveillance information? Why do you choose this/these tools?
a. The periodic tool: The weekly or monthly surveillance reports to inform health authority, partner and clinician.
b. The real-time tool: Event-based and online platform such as health map to share rapid alerts and outbreak locations. The mobile dashboard and map for real-time visualization and data sharing between local stakeholder enable faster dissemination, public awareness and coordinated response. -
Hello Everyone,
I am Soe Wai Yan. I graduated from the University of Medicine 2, Yangon and I am working in an INGO since 2016. My passion is to craft and work with the system that integrate the advanced technology and healthcare in one platform specifically, for the ones who work in the hard-to-reach area. -
Should you give the data out?
No, I should not give out the full individual-level data as requested because it would violate patient privacy and confidentiality, which are core principles of informatics ethics.How do you not violate any of the General Principles of Informatics Ethics?
I must protect privacy, ensure confidentiality, obtain proper authorization and share only necessary, anonymized information.If you want to provide the data to them , what and how will you do it?
You can provide de-identified or aggregated data after removing personal identifiers . Before sharing, I will get ethical approval, sign a data-sharing agreement and ensure the researchers agree to use the data responsibly and securely. -
What should I do?
I cannot disclose the patient’s medical information to anyone including family members or friends. My duty is to maintain confidentiality and protect the integrity of the health record.Can I tell my friend?
No, I cannot. Sharing that information would be a serious breach of confidentiality and a violation of both ethical standards and privacy laws. My responsibility is to the confidentiality of the patient’s data not to personal relationships.Can I interfere with family issues?
No. As a health information professional, I have no right to interfere in personal or family matters.Should my friend not know because she might be at risk?
Although I am worried about my friend’s health and potential risk, it is not my place to disclose confidential information. Instead, I can encourage proper medical and ethical channels—for example, ensuring that the patient receives counseling and is informed of his duty to notify his spouse.How will you follow the fundamental principles about right to self-determination, doing good and doing no harm to others?
Autonomy: The patient has the right to decide who knows about his medical condition.
Doing Good: I can do good by protecting the patient’s confidentiality and ensuring the case is handled through proper procedures.
Non-Maleficence: The revealing the information to my friend could cause serious harm emotionally, socially and legally to both the patient and myself.Is not it your obligation and the right of the subject to hold the information?
Yes. As a professional, I am obligated to hold patient information in confidence. It is the patient’s right to privacy and control over their own medical information. -
In my organization, “The One Dashboard” was introduced in my previous discussion.
Awareness: The organization communicated the purpose of the new system early through emails and meetings. Most employees were aware of the change and its benefits.
Desire: This area was weaker. Many employees did not feel involved in the decision-making process and were hesitant to shift from familiar tools. There was limited effort to build motivation or address concerns.
Knowledge: Training was provided but it did not always meet the specific needs of different teams. Some users were unclear on how to apply the dashboard to their roles.
Ability: During implementation, many employees struggled to use the demo system effectively. There was not enough hands-on support or role-specific guidance to help users feel confident.
Reinforcement: While leadership continued to promote the dashboard, there was limited follow-up, recognition or feedback mechanisms to ensure long-term adoption.The One Dashboard idea was a valuable initiative but the organization could have better managed the change by involving employees more and providing ongoing support.
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Our organization is currently developing ‘The One Dashboard’ to integrate multiple data sources for better decision-making and performance monitoring. Although still in progress, I think this has key factors based on the 5 main areas:
People: We actively engaged staff and managers from the start to ensure the system meets their needs and gains their support.
Cost: Since we used open-source tools and internal expertise instead of purchasing new software, this does not share the costs.
Operation: The dashboard is designed to pull data automatically from existing systems minimizing manual work and avoiding disruptions to daily operations.
Design: We involved both technical and non-technical users in the design to ensure the interface is simple and easily understandable.
Data: Data quality is essential for reliable outputs. We standardized indicators and set up validation checks to ensure accuracy and consistency.All factors are interdependent but people remain the most influential. Without staff and leadership support, even the best system may fail.
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In our organization, we use a Community-Based Health App that guides volunteers in malaria diagnosis and treatment as well as replaces paper records. It works well because it even functions offline by pre-defined algorithm, improving accuracy in remote health settings in Myanmar. Factors like training, device availability and technical support can still influence its effectiveness.
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If hospitals don’t use the ICD standard, diagnoses would be coded differently everywhere, making it hard to share patient data or compare information. This would cause problems in communication, research, insurance claims and even public health planning. Overall, it would reduce efficiency and quality in healthcare.
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I partly agree with the findings from ‘Electronic Health Records and Physician Burnout’. Although electronic records and health information exchanges (HIEs) have many benefits such as improving coordination of care and reducing duplication of tests, these EMRs are also a major contributor to physician burnout.
The main causes include excessive documentation requirements, poor system design, high workload, working overtime to complete record and constant inbox alerts that lead to “alert fatigue.” These issues shift physicians’ focus from patient interaction to screen time which not only reduces job satisfaction but also negatively impacts patient care. Personally, I think some EMRs are time-consuming and sometimes difficult to navigate. The system requires a lot of times for simple tasks.
To reduce this problem, several measures are needed such as improving UI/UX, reducing unnecessary steps/documents, providing comprehensive training and optimizing the alert system.
Actually, I suppose EMRs are valuable tools but without proper design and support, they risk becoming a source of stress and burnout for health professionals. A balanced approach is needed to retain their benefits while minimizing negative impacts on physician well-being. -
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I think it is the national health records and disease surveillance data collected from public hospitals, PPM clinics and rural health centers across Myanmar. This includes patient records, diagnostic data, lab results, prescription data, COVID-19 tracking data and even mobile health data from remote areas.
Volume:
The healthcare system generates a large amount of data daily especially from hospitals in major cities like Yangon and Mandalay, but also increasingly from rural areas through digital health initiatives. This includes thousands of patient records, lab tests, and imaging data.Velocity:
During disease outbreaks (e.g. COVID-19, dengue fever), data needs to be collected and processed quickly to inform public health decisions, resource allocation, and emergency responses.Variety:
The data comes in different forms: structured (patient registration, lab results), unstructured (doctor’s notes) and semi-structured (health surveys, SMS-based symptom reporting from rural areas)Veracity:
In Myanmar, data quality can be inconsistent due to manual record-keeping, lack of standardization and underreporting, especially in rural regions. This affects trust in the data.Value:
When used effectively, this data can support disease prediction, health resource planning, and targeted health interventions especially in underdeveloped areas where resources are limited. -
Brief Introduction about Health Informatics Project
_I have observed a health informatics project in our organization, where we implemented a Community-Based Health App (CBHA) in our project area. In this project, we provided mobile phone to each volunteer allowing them to collect health data directly through the application.The primary objective of this health informatics project is to improve decision-making in diagnosis and treatment by providing them the symptom-based algorithm and to reduce the burden of the paper works. This application also allows the volunteers to help the tracking of medical commodities so that the monthly manual stock checking is no longer needed.How The Project Help to Improve Current Practices
_The app has significantly reduced the paper-based records, which were previously used by volunteers to track various diseases and projects. This digital transition has simplified the data collection process and significantly reduced the human errors in disease management. Furthermore, it also reduced the burden of manual stock management.Challenges or Difficulties
_However, there are a few challenges in implementing the project. One of the main difficulties is the lack of digital literacy among some volunteers, particularly those of older age which makes it harder for them to fully utilize the app. Another challenge is the limited internet connectivity in some areas, which hinders real-time data transmission. To overcome this, the volunteers need to visit the nearest accessible points or the mobile teams visit these locations to collect data via Bluetooth or other offline methods, uploading it when they have access to better internet. -
Dear Jenny,
Thanks for sharing an interesting story. This data breach highlights the critical importance of proper data security configuration and oversight, especially when handling sensitive personal and professional information. In addition, I think organizations should implement automated tools for vulnerability scanning, enforce role-based access management and conduct regular cybersecurity training for staff to minimize human error and strengthen overall data protection practices. -
Dear Ma Yin,
Thank you for sharing such an interesting cyber attack. I think organizations should implement network segmentation to limit the spread of malware, conduct regular third-party security audits, and deploy advanced threat detection tools like AI-based monitoring to detect suspicious activity before it escalates into a full-blown breach. -
Dear Nang,
This is a strong overview highlighting key lessons from the Blue Shield Data Breach, especially around misconfiguration and third-party risks. In addition to the suggested prevention measures, I would like to suggest to implement a data loss prevention (DLP) system to automatically detect and block unauthorized sharing of sensitive information, especially when integrated with third-party tools. -
An attacker can use the following to conduct the security attack:
1. Using malware (viruses, ransomware, and spyware), an attacker can harm the system or steal the information.
2. Using social engineering, an attacker can manipulate people to gain access to systems or data. A common method is phishing, where fake emails or websites trick users into giving away passwords or personal details.
3. By targeting network communication like Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack, the attacker intercepts data between two parties.
4. Attackers can also take advantage of bugs in software using SQL injection.
5. Attackers can also conduct DDoS attack to overload the servers making them slow or unavailable. This disrupts services and can cause financial damage. -
1. Why Choose a Cloud Server instead of a Physical Server?
Using a cloud server is more practical and cost-effective than investing in a physical server, especially considering our current limitations. Our hospital lacks a dedicated server and has only one IT officer who is mainly responsible for basic computer maintenance. Setting up a physical server would require significant investment, ongoing maintenance and specialized IT expertise that we currently do not have. In contrast, a cloud server can be deployed quickly with minimal initial cost, offers high reliability and availability, and includes built-in data backups and security managed by the provider. Cloud solutions are also highly scalable, allowing us to easily expand system resources as the hospital grows or as patient demand increases. This approach minimizes downtime, ensures secure access and reduces the technical burden on our small IT team.2. Recommended Cloud Computing Service Model:
For this project, the most appropriate cloud computing model is Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS allows us to use ready-to-deploy web-based software hosted and maintained by a third-party provider, eliminating the need for us to build, host or manage the application infrastructure ourselves. This model is suitable for our limited IT resources and the urgent need to get the appointment system running smoothly and quickly. A SaaS solution would include patient scheduling, data entry forms and even reporting tools that all accessible via a web browser with no need for installation or complex setup. It also ensures automatic updates, security compliance and technical support, helping our team stay focused on healthcare delivery rather than software maintenance. Overall, SaaS offers a fast, efficient, and reliable way to introduce digital appointment booking to our hospital with minimal operational complexity. -
Due to increased population movement across borders and weakening of routine health services in conflict-affected areas, malaria continues to be a major public health concern in Myanmar. At the same time, information technology has rapidly developed and become vital in outbreak management, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach areas where health systems are fragile.
The systematic application of information technology in health has been increasingly used by health organizations in Myanmar to improve data collection, disease surveillance, early outbreak detection and timely response. In areas where routine services are disrupted, such as in parts of Kayin or Sagaing, malaria transmission often increases due to lack of preventive measures like insecticide-treated nets, health education and early diagnosis.
To address this, our organization and other partners are adopting mobile-based and digital systems to strengthen malaria surveillance and response. For example, the Community-Based Health Application, mobile application, is being used by field volunteers and community health workers to report malaria test results and case details in real time even from areas with poor internet connectivity. Once the phone connects to a network, data is sent to the central database. This allows the regional mobile medical teams to analyze trends and spot outbreaks much faster than before.
We recently received an alert from a mobile report in eastern Myanmar where a high number of Plasmodium falciparum cases were detected within one week. The mobile medical team immediately conducts the investigation. Through coordination between HIS, mobile medical teams and community health workers, we distributed bed nets and conducted the active case detection (ACD) together with health education within a few days. Within two weeks, no new cases were reported from that village. Without real-time data and digital systems, such a response would have taken much longer.
We also emphasize training and capacity building in digital reporting tools among our staff and community volunteers. Many of them now understand the value of real-time data and actively use these tools in their daily work. As a result, data quality has improved, errors have decreased, and the response time to outbreaks is much faster.
Although our current system is still developing, we see that applying health informatics in malaria outbreak response has already shown clear benefits. If we can further develop this with enterprise architecture and national-level integration, we will have a strong foundation for eliminating malaria in Myanmar. -
Based on my background with clinical experience and public health, I recognize the need to strengthen my skills in the key areas:
1. Data Science and Analytics
I need to learn how to effectively collect, manage and analyze health data. This includes big data analysis using python or other programming to find key trends and insights that can support evidence-based decision-making.
2. Public Health Knowledge
While I have experience in public health, I need to deepen my knowledge of specific areas like epidemiology, disease surveillance and health policy that is strongly linked with my career.
3. Computer Science
As a medical professional, my technical skills in IT are limited. I have limitations in areas like database management, statistical analysis and programming languages that are commonly used in health informatics. -
If I am a director of the hospital, I will surely plan to move the hospital’s information system to cloud computing. The main reasons include:
1. The cloud computing provides the data security and backup options, even though there are the privacy concerns, which is very important for protecting patient records and hospital data.
2. It allows for easier access to information for authorized personnel, even from remote locations, which can help improve patient care and coordination.
3. Using cloud systems can reduce the cost of maintaining physical servers and IT infrastructure, which is especially beneficial in the long term. Furthermore, it can reduce the cost of paper-based documentation and save the environment.
4. The cloud solutions are more scalable, allowing us to expand the system as the hospital grows.
Considering the global trend and the need for modernization in Myanmar’s healthcare sector, moving to cloud computing is a strategic decision for both efficiency and future readiness. -
I had a really unfortunate experience with a cyber attack that taught me a valuable lesson. One day, I received an email from a co-worker containing a link. I did not realize that his computer had been infected and when I clicked the link on my phone, I unknowingly triggered malware. As soon as I did, all my contacts were wiped from my phone, and a message appeared demanding money in exchange for restoring them. At the time, I had all my contacts stored on my phone, so losing them was a big blow. Despite efforts from our IT team, they were unable to recover the contacts. As a result, I had to manually re-enter every single contact. This experience was a wake-up call and since then, our team has undergone training to better recognize cyber threats and to improve our overall security measures.
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Based on my experience in non-profit sector, the healthcare supply chain system in Myanmar still faces significant challenges. Essential medicines and medical supplies often run short in remote station hospitals and rural health centers due to poor inventory management and delayed restocking. This results in treatment delays and negatively impacts patient outcomes.
1. Hardware:
Many healthcare facilities lack computerized inventory systems and rely on manual stock tracking.
Improvement: To equip facilities with affordable computers or tablets and reliable power sources to enable digital inventory management.
2. Software:
There is no centralized software to track medicine stocks, expiry dates, and order schedules.
Improvement: To develop or adopt simple, user-friendly inventory management software customized for Myanmar’s healthcare context.
3. Data:
Stock data is often inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, leading to overstocking or shortages.
Improvement: To implement real-time data entry and monitoring systems to maintain accurate stock records.
4. Process:
Ordering and distribution processes are manual and slow, causing delays in replenishment.
Improvement: To automate procurement workflows and establish timely communication channels between facilities and suppliers.
5. People:
Healthcare workers and supply managers may lack training in digital tools and inventory best practices.
Improvement: To provide targeted training programs and continuous support to build capacity in supply chain management. -
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Hi Siriluk Dungdawadueng,
I really agree with your idea of combining a patient-facing mobile app with a hospital-facing web app. It is a smart way to streamline the entire care process from appointment scheduling to tele-medicine and medication delivery. I like your focus on data security, using end-to-end encryption. This approach will not only improve patient convenience but also reduce hospital crowding. I think it is a great solution for improving healthcare outcomes.
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