In November, HISP Uganda and HISP Rwanda worked with the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health to evaluate phase one of the Nutrition Information System (NIS) in Botswana, and prepare for phase two. Implementation of phase one, and phase two continues with continuous onsite and remote support by UiO-HISP, together with MoHW and UNICEF Botswana.
The tracker-android NIS program is used at the clinic level, and supports the integrated needs of the nutrition program, CWC, and EPI. It is intended to support the clinical workflow, with reporting generated from the individual level data. Six clinics using tablets are involved in the implementation pilot, with plans to take it nationally.
The team visited the clinics to see them charting in real time, and learn from the health care providers their progress and challengers. We worked closely with the MoHW and UNICEF Botswana, reviewing indicators, and planning for phase two scale-up, which has been approved to strengthen the system based on the experience so far. The scale up will include continuous capacity building of both MoHW and end user’s teams, and the addition of new functionality for nutrition (automated z-score calculations and integration with national aggregate hmis), and system features for basic stock management.
For the DHIS2 community this work contributes to the efforts with the WHO packages to create linkages between various health programs, generating requirements for the combination of nutrition and immunizations.
