Circular No. 48/2010/TT-BYT guiding the system for reporting, information, and disease notification for infectious diseases

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Reporting, Information, and Disease Notification

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Pursuant to the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases dated November 21, 2007;

Pursuant to Decree No. 188/2007/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2007 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Health;

The Ministry of Health hereby provides guidelines for reporting, information, and disease notification as follows:

PART I

PRINCIPLES, REGIMES, FORMS, CONTENTS, AND PROCEDURES FOR REPORTING, INFORMATION, AND DISEASE NOTIFICATION

Article 1. Principles of Reporting, Information, and Disease Notification

1. The contents of reporting, information, and disease notification must ensure truthfulness, completeness, and timeliness.

Clause 2. Information and reporting must be conducted in accordance with the prescribed procedures, formalities, authority, and in accordance with the forms issued together with this Circular.

Article 2. Reporting During an Epidemic

1. Residents living in areas declared epidemic zones, individuals suffering from or suspected of having infectious diseases, and those who discover cases of infectious diseases or suspected cases thereof must report the disease to village health stations or commune health centers in accordance with Clause 1 of Article 47 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

2. Upon receiving information about the disease from residents in epidemic areas, healthcare facilities must immediately conduct investigations and verify the accuracy of the information. If the information is confirmed to be accurate, it must be reported in accordance with Articles 3, 4, and 5 of this Circular.

Article 3. Regime and Forms of Information and Disease Notification

1. Regime of Disease Notification:

a) Regular reports include daily, weekly, monthly, and annual reports;

b) Rapid reports are conducted upon request from higher authorities to address urgent matters within a short timeframe;

c) Immediate reports (including outbreak detection reports and case reports) are carried out immediately upon discovering suspected or confirmed cases of Category A infectious diseases or outbreaks, but not later than 24 hours. After submitting immediate reports, regular case reports of suspected or confirmed Category A infectious diseases, outbreaks, and epidemics must be submitted according to the daily reporting regime.

2. Forms of Information and Disease Notification are implemented in accordance with Clause 2 of Article 22 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

Article 4. Indicators and Contents of Disease Reports

1. Indicators of Disease Reports Include:

a) Number of Infectious Disease Cases: The number of patients defined as cases under surveillance based on the date of onset during the reporting period;

b) Number of Deaths Due to Infectious Diseases: The number of deaths diagnosed as being caused by infectious diseases based on the date of death during the reporting period;

c) Cumulative Number of Infectious Disease Cases: The total number of cases accumulated over a specific monitoring period or categorized according to statistical reports;

d) Cumulative Number of Deaths Due to Infectious Diseases: The total number of deaths due to infectious diseases accumulated over a specific monitoring period or categorized according to statistical reports;

đ) Epidemiological Surveillance Results;

e) Time and Location of Suspected Infectious Disease Cases, Confirmed Infectious Disease Cases, Outbreaks, or Epidemics.

2. Contents of Regular Reports:

a) Daily Report: Implemented in accordance with Appendix 2 attached to this Circular. The indicators of the daily report are calculated over a 24-hour period from 00:00 to 24:00 on the reporting day.

b) Weekly Report: The list of diseases and contents of the weekly report are implemented in accordance with Section A of Appendices 3, 4, 5, and 6 attached to this Circular. The indicators of the weekly report are calculated over a seven-day period from 00:00 on Monday to 24:00 on Sunday of the reporting week. The weekly report is conducted even if there are no recorded cases.

c) Monthly and Annual Reports: The list of diseases and contents of the monthly and annual reports are implemented in accordance with Section B of Appendices 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 attached to this Circular. The indicators of the monthly report are calculated from 00:00 on the first day to 24:00 on the last day of the reporting month; the indicators of the annual report are calculated from 00:00 on the first day to 24:00 on the last day of the reporting year.

3. Contents of Rapid Reports: Implemented according to specific requirements of the requesting authority.

4. Contents of Immediate Reports:

a) Outbreak Detection Reports are implemented in accordance with Appendix 12 attached to this Circular. They must clearly state the time, location, number of cases and deaths; initial investigation and testing results, assessment of the disease situation, and measures taken to prevent and control the disease (if applicable);

b) Case Reports are implemented in accordance with Appendices 13 and 14 attached to this Circular. These reports are conducted immediately upon obtaining initial investigation results for Category A diseases or the first cases of an outbreak.

Article 5. Procedure for Regular Reporting of Infectious Diseases

The procedure for regular reporting of infectious diseases shall be carried out according to the diagram specified in Appendix 15 attached hereto, specifically as follows:

1. Health workers at village health stations and private specialized clinics have the responsibility to collect, compile, and report data on infectious diseases to the commune health station (hereinafter referred to as "commune") within the following timeframes:

a) For daily reports: Before 9:00 AM the next day;

b) For weekly reports: Before 2:00 PM Monday of the following week;

c) For monthly reports: Before the third day of the following month;

d) For annual reports: Before January 5th of the following year.

2. The commune health station has the responsibility to compile, verify, and report data on infectious diseases in its commune to the district health center (hereinafter referred to as "district"), while simultaneously providing feedback information to units under its jurisdiction within the following timeframes:

a) For daily reports: Before 11:00 AM the next day;

b) For weekly reports: Before 2:00 PM Tuesday of the following week;

c) For monthly reports: Before the fifth day of the following month;

d) For annual reports: Before January 7th of the following year.

3. Health units at industrial farms, factories, enterprises, agencies, schools (hereinafter referred to as "health units of agencies and enterprises"), county hospitals, and private multi-specialty clinics have the responsibility to compile, verify, and report data on infectious diseases at their facilities to the district health center within the timeframes stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

4. The district health center has the responsibility to analyze and report data on infectious diseases in its district to the provincial preventive health center (hereinafter referred to as "province") and provide information on malaria, parasitic diseases, and vector-borne diseases to the provincial malaria control center (for provinces that have established such centers), while simultaneously providing feedback information to units under its jurisdiction within the following timeframes:

a) For daily reports: Before 2:00 PM the next day;

b) For weekly reports: Before 2:00 PM Wednesday of the following week;

c) For monthly reports: Before the tenth day of the following month;

d) For annual reports: Before January 10th of the following year.

5. Provincial hospitals, hospitals under ministries and sectors, and private hospitals located within the province have the responsibility to compile and report information on infectious diseases at their facilities to the provincial preventive health center and provide information on malaria, parasitic diseases, and vector-borne diseases to the provincial malaria control center (for provinces that have established such centers) within the timeframes stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article.

6. The International Health Quarantine Center has the responsibility to compile, verify, and report data on infectious diseases detected at border gates to the Preventive Health Department and central institutes of hygiene and epidemiology, Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, Central Highlands Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (hereinafter referred to as "Institute of Epidemiology") responsible for the region, while simultaneously informing the provincial preventive health center and provincial malaria control center within the timeframes stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article.

7. Central hospitals have the responsibility to compile and report information on infectious diseases at their facilities to the regional Institutes of Epidemiology and Central Institutes of Malaria, Parasitology, and Entomology, Quy Nhon Institute of Malaria, Parasitology, and Entomology, Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Malaria, Parasitology, and Entomology (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Institutes of Malaria") responsible for the region (for malaria, parasitic diseases, and vector-borne diseases), while simultaneously informing the provincial preventive health center and provincial malaria control center within the timeframes stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article.

8. The provincial preventive health center has the responsibility to compile and report information on infectious diseases at its facility to the provincial health department, Preventive Health Department, and regional Institutes of Epidemiology, while simultaneously providing information on malaria, parasitic diseases, and vector-borne diseases to the regional Institutes of Malaria, and providing feedback information to units under its jurisdiction within the following timeframes:

a) For daily reports: Before 3:00 PM the next day;

b) For weekly reports: Before 2:00 PM Thursday of the following week;

c) For monthly reports: Before the fifteenth day of the following month;

d) For annual reports: Before January 15th of the following year.

9. For provinces that have established a provincial malaria control center, this center has the responsibility to compile and report information on malaria, parasitic diseases, and vector-borne diseases to the provincial health department, Preventive Health Department, and Institutes of Malaria, while simultaneously providing feedback information to units under its jurisdiction within the timeframes stipulated in Clause 8 of this Article. In this case, the provincial preventive health center does not carry out the reporting and feedback of information on malaria, parasitic diseases, and vector-borne diseases to the provincial health department, Preventive Health Department, and Institutes of Malaria.

10. The Institutes of Epidemiology and Institutes of Malaria have the responsibility to compile and verify information on infectious diseases from provincial preventive health centers, provincial malaria control centers, international health quarantine centers, and central hospitals within their assigned regions, and report to the Preventive Health Department, while simultaneously providing feedback information to units under their jurisdiction within the following timeframes:

a) For daily reports: Before 4:00 PM the next day;

b) For weekly reports: Before 4:00 PM Thursday of the following week;

c) For monthly reports: Before the twentieth day of the following month;

d) For annual reports: Before January 20th of the following year.

Chapter II

RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE ORGANIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION AND REPORTING ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Article 6. Responsibilities of the Preventive Medicine Department

1. Building and directing all activities related to monitoring, information dissemination, and reporting infectious diseases nationwide. It is the sole agency authorized by the Minister of Health to issue international notifications on infectious diseases according to the International Health Regulations which Vietnam is a member of.

2. Collecting, compiling, and analyzing surveillance data on infectious diseases, implementing information dissemination and reporting on infectious disease prevention and control nationwide.

3. Guiding units in the implementation of infectious disease reporting as prescribed.

4. Organizing inspections and supervision of infectious disease reporting nationwide.

5. Coordinating the sharing of epidemic information with relevant ministries, sectors, mass media, and internationally as stipulated.

Article 7. Responsibilities of the Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department

1. Directing the implementation of activities related to monitoring and reporting infectious diseases at all hospitals, clinics, and public and private healthcare facilities nationwide.

2. Organizing inspections, supervision, and urging compliance with this circular at all hospitals and clinics in public and private healthcare facilities nationwide.

Article 8. Responsibilities of Institutes under the Preventive Medicine System of the Ministry of Health

1. Collecting, analyzing, evaluating, and storing surveillance data on infectious diseases; implementing information dissemination and reporting on infectious disease prevention and control within their respective regions.

2. Providing professional and technical guidance, organizing inspections, supervision, and evaluation of information dissemination and reporting at units within their respective regions.

3. Cooperating and sharing surveillance information on infectious diseases between the Epidemiology Institute and the Malaria Institute.

Article 9. Responsibilities of Provincial Health Departments and Healthcare Units under Provincial Health Departments

1. The Provincial Health Department is responsible for directing healthcare units under its jurisdiction to implement the information dissemination and reporting system for infectious diseases as prescribed.

2. The Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine assists the Provincial Health Department in supervising, inspecting, and implementing the information dissemination and reporting system for infectious diseases within the province.

3. The District Health Center assists the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine in supervising, inspecting, and implementing the information dissemination and reporting system for infectious diseases within the district.

4. The Commune Health Station assists the District Health Center in supervising, inspecting, and implementing the information dissemination and reporting system for infectious diseases within the commune.

Article 10. Responsibilities of Medical Examination and Treatment Establishments

1. Implementing the information dissemination and reporting system for infectious diseases as prescribed in this Circular to ensure timely monitoring and handling of infectious diseases.

2. Closely coordinating with preventive healthcare units in investigating and reporting investigation results of cases; collecting samples; sharing samples or pathogen strains for definitive diagnosis; providing relevant information and records about patients (diagnosis, treatment, test results, epidemiological factors) and measures taken to prevent infection at the facility.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 11. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from February 15, 2011. Decision No. 4880/2002/QD-BYT dated February 6, 2002 of the Minister of Health on the issuance of the Regulation on Information Dissemination and Reporting of Infectious Diseases shall be repealed upon the effective date of this Circular.

Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Health (Preventive Medicine Department) for research and resolution. /