The presentation titled DHIS2 at the scale of Hypertension: Lessons learned so far in Nigeria will be made by Joseph Odu, Technical Advisor - Monitoring and Evaluation at the Resolve To Save Lives (RTSL) country office in Nigeria. This presentation will be made on Wednesday, 22 June, 15:35-16:20 (Oslo time), during the NCD session.
Kindly see the presentation summary below:
Introduction
Policymakers and program managers can only make useful decisions when high-quality data is available. Paper-based data management systems are error-prone, time-consuming, and difficult to use for longitudinal patient monitoring. These challenges can be addressed by a hybrid of paper-based and electronic-based data management systems.
Context
Nigeria Hypertension Control Initiative is a hypertension care, and treatment project, jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), National Primary Health Care Development Agency, WHO, and Kano and Ogun states Ministries of Health, with technical support from Resolve to Save Lives, commenced in November 2020. The project was initially implemented in 24 PHCs in Kano and Ogun states and is scaling up to 184 facilities. In the first year, the data management system was completely paper-based, exposing the project to data quality issues such as incomplete and untimely data for decision-making.
Method
In February 2022, we implemented a hybrid paper-based and DHIS2 data management system, focusing on minimal data entry that drives key WHO HEARTS package indicators. We held co-creation meetings with key stakeholders to secure their buy-in and country ownership. We then designed key indicators based on their feedback. We conducted a User-Acceptance Test to improve on the initial prototype of the DHIS2 Capture app and provided capacity building for DHIS2 NHCI data entry and continuous support for DHIS2 optimization tracking and scale-up review. We reviewed and documented the effect of DHIS2 on NCHI data management.
Findings
Minimal data entry is critical. Healthcare workers only have time to enter simple, precise data that drives key indicators. Harmonization of paper-based datasets and data elements with the DHIS2 platform is essential to ease legacy data migration to DHIS2. The use of healthcare workers’ personal mobile devices with monthly data subscriptions was an innovative shift from the typical process of giving them extra mobile devices. This is complemented with SOPs to safeguard data integrity in case of staff attrition or phone theft. Active engagement of stakeholders from the advocacy phase of deploying DHIS2 on the NHCI has been critical to the ownership, use, and documentation of lessons learned from DHIS2, especially by state partners.
Conclusion
The use of DHIS2 for NHCI data management holds a lot of promise. It will ensure timely and complete NCD data is available for informed decision-making.
