Rizal health officers strengthen disease surveillance collaboration thru Project Matyag
Posted on  by Communication & Engagement Office

In photo: Rizal health officers share their observations on the disease surveillance system’s strengths and weaknesses and propose resolutions to make it better.

Disease surveillance officers (DSOs) and coordinators (DSCs), hospital administrators, and health policymakers from four Rizal municipalities took part in a seminar-workshop on disease surveillance last October 22, 2019 at the Altaroca Mountain Resort and Convention Center in Antipolo City, Rizal.

Working Together for Enhanced Disease Surveillance for Public Health: A Seminar-Workshop on Strengthening PIDSR Implementation was designed to facilitate discussion about enhancing the disease surveillance system of Rizal, especially on strengthening the implementation of the Philippine Disease Surveillance and Response (PIDSR) System in the province.

Department of Health (DOH) – CALABARZON Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Coordinator John Bobbie M. Roca talked about the processes of the PIDSR System to highlight the roles of the different participating sectors in strengthening its implementation and emphasize the importance of their compliance.

Afterwards, SRU Surveillance Nurse June Cantata Corpuz-Carandang led a workshop aimed towards drafting an integrated plan of action in strengthening PIDSR implementation. This also served as an avenue for the participants to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the disease reporting system in their respective units and share how they envision to enhance and resolve them, respectively.

This seminar-workshop is the last of a series of activities spearheaded by Project Matyag, which recently held events on vector control and professional health-seeking with household heads as well as PIDSR reporting compliance with barangay health workers.

Project Matyag is an epidemiology communication campaign project initiated by RITM-CEO in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Los Baños Foundation Inc. (UPLBFI) and UPLB College of Development Communication’s Department of Science Communication. Funded by DOH-RITM, it aims to communicate RITM published research outputs to laypeople and increase compliance to the disease surveillance system.

by Eunice Brito, Project Matyag, Research Assistant