The Department of Planning and Policy at the Zanzibar Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) is taking a leadership role in coordinating donor and government efforts toward adoption of new systems. Following Capacity Project’s installation of the iHRIS Manage software application earlier this year, the Department of Planning and Policy has been working with DANIDA to coordinate a government-wide data collection activity. Work is scheduled to begin in the upcoming months and will collect data on health workers, training needs, and many other vital pieces of information for entry into the new iHRIS Manage system. Capacity Project will assist again following the data collection activity with data entry and I am certain we will find additional areas to compliment the good work of the Zanzibar MoHSW and DANIDA.
We are often challenged by multiple donors and government organizations all working to solve similar problems but not always collaborating on the solutions. It is very encouraging to see what the Department of Planning and Policy is accomplishing by marrying the donor activities of Capacity Project and DANIDA and by obtaining buy-in and participation committment from all government agencies.
In June Laticha Walters joined the IntraHealth team as the local Namibian HRIS Advisor. Laticha will be seated at the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), working directly with all stakeholders to ensure adherence to the Capacity-funded HRIS strengthening activity plan. She brings a wealth of professionalism and project management experience with recent government experience and already knows many MoHSS and Office of the Prime Minister employees. After only a few days of training she jumped in immediately scheduling meetings with key stakeholders to introduce herself and seek opinions on how she can add value. She is also already at work refining the HRIS strengthening activity plan and taking ownership of key activities such as the regional connectivity pilot and MoHSS and OPM systems strengthening collaboration.
I will continue to work on HRIS strengthening in Namibia in collaboration with Laticha and I think we will see much greater progress now with a local person dedicated to the project success. Laticha is on contract with IntraHealth through the end of October. We will evaluate as that date draws near to see if we can extend the length of her contract and complete all of our planned activities.
Welcome, Laticha!
During a March and April 2008 visit to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar several groups expressed interest in iHRIS Manage. First, Zanzibar is now running a customized version of the software on their new server. They requested assistance with additional customizations and intend to send three people to PHP training with Capacity’s funding assistance in order to make these customizations themselves in future. Zanzibar already has a data collection and entry plan and requested minimal additional funding from Capacity Project to support these activities. Second, the Benjamin Mkapa Foundation is interested in a collaborating on iHRIS Manage to maintain employment data on the Capacity-Mkapa Emergency Hire Program employees. They have an Access database which tracks applicant information but nothing that tracks them following employment with the program. Third, the Department of Administration and Personnel at the MoHSW mainland Tanzania is interested in the Capacity Project’s support in developing a new employee tracking tool. This is a perfect match to the fields and functionality already available in iHRIS Manage, and we will be working with them to customize the system according to their needs. Lastly, CSSC is very interested in deploying iHRIS Manage at the central level, districts, and down to the individual facilities. We will continue to work with CSSC to identify funding to support this project as it will greatly benefit the MoHSW to easily share information with CSSC who provides 40% of the healthcare in Tanzania.
Angela Self is an HRIS Advisor with IntraHealth and is currently engaged in HRIS strengthening activities in Namibia, Lesotho, and Swaziland. In addition, Angela provides technical assistance on the PEPFAR HRIS Assessment Framework project.