Resource Type: Report
Authors: Olusesan Makinde, Samson B. Adebayo, Oluwaseun Adeleke, Elizabeth Ohadi, Awa Dieng, and John Osika
Published: 9/1/2012

Resource Description:

The goal of this assessment was to evaluate the Routine Health Information System (RHIS) in Taraba state. Objectives were to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the Health Management Information System (HMIS) unit in the state and its local government areas (LGAs) with a view to identifying risks that pose a threat to the implementation of the District Health Information System (DHIS) version two (v2) software in the state. The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) previously selected the DHIS v1 as its software of choice for routine health data management but owing to an upgrade of the software, is considering migration of the country to the DHIS v2 platform. Implementation of DHIS v2 is intended to improve the flow of data from the LGAs to the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) and subsequently the FMOH.

Policymakers require timely, relevant, accurate, and up-to-date health information from multiple sources to provide the necessary evidence upon which policies can be made. This is essential in health planning and monitoring of the health status of the population. The ultimate outcome of the exercise is to identify the risks that may pose a challenge for the easy flow of data from the local government to the state and the FMOH via a unified web-enabled HMIS platform. The authors hope Taraba state will use this report to put in place a strategy aimed at realigning the RHIS in the state.