[The establishment of an electronic reproductive health surveillance system (ERHSS)]

To establish an electronic reproductive health surveillance system (ERHSS) and a population-based, computerized monitoring and management information system.

The ERHSS was designed based on the existing perinatal health care (PHC) surveillance, birth defects (BD) surveillance and child health care (CHC) surveillance systems. Advanced computing and network techniques were adopted in designing and developing this system. The use of information technology (IT) and its products has become popular in public health surveillance.

The ERHSS was developed by National Center for Maternal and Infant Health (NCMIH) and Beijing InfoUnit Technological Corporation. It consists of four main components: (1) The establishment of electronic data collection system, including the electronic forms and the screening system for high risk factors; (2) The established electronic data transmission system; (3) The established electronic information reporting system; (4) The established back-up system, including card making system, ID search engine and maintenance, etc.

It is the first time this population-based electronic surveillance system being developed in China. It has many features regarding accuracy, security, smooth operation, optimal performance of real-time data processing, etc. The ERHSS has been set up in 22 counties/cities in China since 1999.