Duque: Errors only in 1% of DOH data

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Health confirmed yesterday a report of the University of the Philippines that there were errors in the DOH data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in April, but underscored that the mistakes involved less than one percent of the whole data set.

According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the issues raised by the UP Resilience Institute are “a nominal percentage of the whole data set and do not prejudice the overall interpretation of data and decision making.”

“As early as April 26, we have seen, caught and corrected the issue and we very much appreciate the UP Resilience (Institute) for raising their concerns. We assure the public that the issues raised are less than one percent – smaller than one percent – of the whole data set,” he said at a press briefing.

Duque was reacting to a report of UP that there was a “number of alarming patient-level inconsistencies, if not gross errors” based on a quick comparison of the DOH’s data drops last month, particularly on April 25.

These inconsistencies pertain to changed gender of patients from male to female or vice-versa, modified ages, reclassification of residence data to another city “if not a completely imaginary city.”

The health chief gave assurance that DOH data are “continuously rectified the moment we identify any issue, including but not limited to date formatting inconsistencies, case classification and proper identification of residence.”

“Nevertheless, the DOH remains committed to transparency and we welcome feedback from the expert community. Moving forward, we will include more details on the specific rows that have changed from the previous day due to corrections,” he said.

According to Duque, it normally takes months of “efforts” to build and use “high quality data system while the ongoing crisis demands that existing system be improved and scaled up in real time.”?Data important

In an interview with The Chiefs on OneNews on Tuesday night, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said data are vital in drawing up responses for the epidemic.

“Data is very important when you interpret and do your conclusions. We have to see how big and how significant the inconsistencies that they are saying, so we can make corrections,” she added.

According to Vergeire, the public should understand how the DOH has been gathering COVID data – from the “smallest facilities down in the barangay level” and how they are elevated “by levels up to the national government.”

“Most of the time, we get data manually. Sometimes, there is automation but still, the data are passed through several levels and somewhere along the way, there will be some errors and we are not denying that… We won’t say we have a perfect system,” she said.

She pointed out that DOH also had to deal with “incomplete information in our data sheet” being submitted by the local government units and hospitals.

A new digital epidemiological surveillance information system is set to be rolled out by DOH. Developed in coordination with the Philippine office of the World Health Organization, the COVIDKAYA will automate several data collection processes that are expected to minimize encoding errors.

Improve data gathering

Senators prodded yesterday the DOH to immediately improve its COVID-19 information system, whose accuracy is crucial in the government’s decision-making during the crisis.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the report casts doubt on the reliability of the government’s scientific analysis on the crisis.

“Committing errors, no matter how small in this situation we’re in, is still wrong,” Sotto said, adding this bolstered senators’ earlier call for Duque’s resignation.

He said the same data are being used to make crucial decisions whether or not to lift existing community quarantines in various parts of the country.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said in South Korea and Taiwan, the success of the government campaign “is premised on the accuracy of the data upon which decisions are based and the credibility of the implementors.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has been critical of Duque, lamented the development, saying “data accuracy is key to decision-making” and “an age-old tenet in management which is not only logical but simple enough.”

He said concerned officials must be held accountable for inaccuracies in the government COVID-19 data.

Sen. Leila de Lima said the DOH should explain alleged misleading reports on COVID-19 positive cases.

She said there are also questions as to whether recent spikes in the number of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 in Tondo, Manila and Cebu are duly reflected in the report of the DOH.

“The DOH should clarify their data as to how many positive cases and the backlog. This is not the time to hide data. We need the right information to guide our policymakers properly,” De Lima said in Filipino.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian stressed accurate data and information is fundamental in governance.

“Garbage in, garbage out. If DOH is feeding garbage data to decision makers, expect garbage decisions from government,” he said. – Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe