IHIP User Roles: Who Reports What, From Sub-Centre to CSU

The IHIP hierarchy at a glance

IDSP is built on surveillance units at three levels: the Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) at NCDC Delhi, a State Surveillance Unit (SSU, राज्य निगरानी इकाई) in each state, and a District Surveillance Unit (DSU, जिला निगरानी इकाई) in each district. On IHIP, reporting units sit below the DSU.

Reporting unit users: S, P and L

These are the people who actually enter cases. NCDC reports that in 2025 there were 184,895 S form reporting units (77% reported), 43,180 P form units (81%) and 36,414 L form units (82%).

• S form user: the health worker at the Health Sub Centre (a 2023 journal article names ANMs). Entries can be made on desktop or through the IHIP Android app; the Administration manual's usage reports show "S Form (Desktop)" and "S Form (Mobile)" separately. Details in the IHIP S form guide.
• P form user: a health facility such as a PHC, CHC, SDH, DH, medical college or private hospital. The P form has "Presumptive Cases", "Death" and "Aggregate" entries, and aggregate entry needs DSO permission. See the IHIP P form guide.
• L form user: a lab, either internal (PHC, CHC, SDH) or external (district public health lab, medical college, private or reference lab). P form cases needing tests are auto-forwarded to the linked L form user. See the IHIP L form guide.

The Medical Officer or IDSP Nodal Officer at a facility is also named in the manuals as someone who can raise Event Alerts.

District level: DSO and District Admin

The District Surveillance Officer (DSO) heads the DSU. Under the 2008 IDSP training module (historical staffing), the DSU had the DSO, two data entry operators, an accountant and Class IV staff. The DSO is also Member Secretary of the District Surveillance Committee.

On IHIP, the DSO manual and Administration manual show the DSO:

• raising "Request for New Health Facility" when a facility is missing from the list;
• raising "Request for new user id" for staff who need access;
• giving permission for aggregate entry on the P form;
• selecting RRT members for outbreak investigations (Event Alert and Outbreak Investigation Manual);
• using the "Downloads" menu, which offers the Android version of the app.

The manuals also list a District Admin role. The manuals we read do not spell out its powers in detail, so ask your DSU what it covers locally.

State and national level

The State Surveillance Officer (SSO) is the key administrator. The "User Manual for Administration Menu" says only the SSO manages user accounts: "Under this functionality the SSO can add new user". The SSO approves or rejects district requests and can reset any user's password through "Edit" and then "Reset Password". SSO reports show day-wise reporting status for the last 2 weeks and week-wise status beyond that. A separate State Admin role is described in the SSO and State Admin manual.

At the top, the CSU at NCDC Delhi provides national oversight, technical guidance and monitoring, and national users can raise Event Alerts too. WHO India supports NCDC through an IHIP Technical Support Unit. For how the programme itself is organised, see IDSP explained.

Rapid Response Teams

Rapid Response Teams exist at national, state and district levels (NCDC newsletter 2023). The IDSP training module describes the core members as an epidemiologist, a clinician and a microbiologist. On IHIP, outbreaks are started and investigated in the portal by the RRT, and an outbreak can be marked "Completed" when no new cases have occurred for twice the incubation period after the last onset. Event Alerts that lead to RRT work can be raised by health workers (mobile app), medical officers, IDSP nodal officers and district, state or national users. Read more in outbreak reporting in IDSP.

How a new IHIP user ID is created

There is no self-registration on IHIP. Based on the Administration and DSO manuals, the process runs like this:

1. Tell your facility in-charge or the DSU that a new user (or a new facility) needs access.
2. If the facility is not yet listed, the DSO raises "Request for New Health Facility".
3. The DSO raises "Request for new user id" for the person or facility.
4. The SSO reviews the request and approves or rejects it.
5. Once approved, the SSO adds the user. Your DSU can tell you how login details are shared in your state.
6. At first login on the official portal, complete "My Profile", including your mobile number, which is used for OTP during password reset.
7. The manuals ask users not to change the initial password for six months; follow your state's current instruction on this.

For sign-in and password reset steps, see IHIP login help. If anyone outside your DSU or SSU asks for your password or OTP, refuse.

Reading an IHIP user ID

The manuals give examples that show how IDs are built. Your own ID may follow your state's pattern, but these examples help you recognise the parts:

Because each ID is tied to one facility or lab, do not share IDs between facilities. If staff change, ask the DSO to update the account rather than passing on the password.