Health dept adopts unified disease portal to curb outbreaks at source

The platform has been designed to track 20 notifiable diseases with location-specific accuracy, ranging from vector-borne, vaccine-preventable illnesses to COVID-19 and influenza-like infections

The Gautam Budh Nagar health department has rolled out Unified Disease Surveillance Portal (UDSP), a digital platform that will enable real-time monitoring and response of infectious diseases from village level, to ensure proactive disease control, said health department officials on Wednesday.

Notably, private hospitals and laboratories are also being integrated into the Unified Disease Surveillance Portal. (HT Photos)

According to officials, the platform has been designed to track 20 notifiable diseases with location-specific accuracy, ranging from vector-borne, vaccine-preventable illnesses to COVID-19 and influenza-like infections.

Uttar Pradesh became the first state in the country to develop and launch UDSP in May 2023, and it has now expanded its use across districts, including Gautam Budh Nagar. It was initially launched to monitor 12 critical diseases, said health department officials.

“UDSP is a major leap in strengthening our grassroots health response. With real-time reporting from village level, we can now act much faster to control outbreaks before they spread. Earlier, there used to be delays between data collection and action at the block level, however, UDSP removes that gap and brings direct accountability. The focus is now on timely detection, reporting, and intervention,” said Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Narendra Kumar.

One of the key changes under the new system is the integration of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM) workers at the village level, said officials.

“These grassroots health workers will conduct household surveys to identify and report symptomatic individuals, feeding real-time data into the portal. The moment patient data, such as name, address, and symptoms is entered, notifications are instantly sent to higher authorities, including the director general of health, allowing for swift response and containment measures”, said CMO Kumar.

A comprehensive training session for doctors and health workers from district hospital, medical colleges, ESI hospital, SSPGTI, community and primary health centres was conducted at the CMO’s office in Noida’s Sector 39 on July 3. They were briefed on using the platform to instantly report patient data, ensuring that alerts reach senior health authorities without delay, said officials.

“With UDSP, we are not only streamlining health data but also improving transparency across departments. It brings together field-level reporting, analytics, and command-level response into a single workflow,” said district public health expert, Dr Amit Kumar.

Notably, private hospitals and laboratories are also being integrated into the UDSP. “Once fully operational, all health-related data for the district will be centralised, providing authorities with a clearer and faster understanding of emerging health threats,” said CMO Kumar.