Retired orthopedic surgeon Dr. Eddie McCaig

The Patient Information System, commonly known as PATIS, which is used in all major hospitals and health centers, needs to be reviewed and utilized in monitoring and tracking non-communicable diseases.

Retired orthopedic surgeon Dr. Eddie McCaig says there is a need for improved coordination of medical history taking and data entry.

McCaig says data is needed to enhance national NCD surveillance and evaluate progress made towards meeting regional and global NCD control and prevention targets.

He adds that the health ministry has an outstanding system that is not fully utilized.

“Everyone is talking about getting IT involved; in the Ministry of Health, they have the PATIS system, which is absolutely outstanding. I got a team from America to review it and see if they could add to it. We went as a team to see the system, which is absolutely outstanding, but we do not have enough data entry.”

McCaig says the system has the potential to contribute to better health policy and planning.

He adds that the NCD epidemic is also an underreported crisis.

Permanent Secretary for Health Dr. James Fong says, besides the shortage of health workers, the lack of credible data also hinders the services.

However, Dr Fong says they are not able to meet the staffing needs for data entry cadres.