Date:10/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/10/stories/2007091055430100.htm

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Software to store health indicators to be tried out in four districts

S. Prasad

Information on 37 primary health centres in Krishnagiri district has been fed on the web
Database will be constantly updated to provide information to people

KRISHNAGIRI: The software developed by the Krishnagiri district administration for collecting health indicators obtained at the camps held under Varumun Kappom Thittam has become a trendsetter, with the Directorate of Public Health deciding to try it out in four districts.

Brainchild

Revamp Technologies, a company in Hosur, developed the software, the brainchild of Collector Santhosh Babu. Information on 37 primary health centres in Krishnagiri district has been fed on the web, Mr. Babu told The Hindu.

The details of 32 out of 70 camps held in the district during the current fiscal have been loaded in the web version of the software ( www.varumunkappom.im), and they can be accessed at the click of a mouse. They include the date and place of camps, names of patients and consultation, counselling and data charts.

Treatment

Preliminary information about patients, including height, weight, ECG, blood and urine test results, pap smear and blood grouping, are also uploaded , whether or not the patients need follow-up treatment.

The disease profile of patients afflicted with tuberculosis, malaria, diabetes, cancer, venereal diseases and AIDS is updated.

This will come in handy for the Government to plan intervention and prevention strategies. The frequency of diseases in a particular hamlet/village/district could also be projected with the software, as 1,248 people, on an average, attend the camps.

Mr. Babu said the database would be constantly updated to provide information to people. The administration would train Health Department personnel in the operation of the software.