by By Simon Ushie
The Cross River State Governor, Senator Ben Ayade has called for improved data management system in the health sector for optimized service delivery across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state and the country.
Senator Ayade was speaking during the flag off ceremony of the Community Health Management Information System in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital aimed at strengthing synergy between the State and Federal Government.
The Governor who was represented by the Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Janet Ekpenyong said, quality and precised data remains the bedrock of effective policy planning and implementation.
She said, the government of Cross River State have over the years leveraged on optimized data collection and synchronization using home grown principles which are relative to various Communities with best standard practices being upheld.
According to Dr Ekpenyong ” if we must have a working and formidable program and policies, we must ensure we generate quality and reliable data by taking advantage of programs like the Community Health Intervention Program (CHIPs), Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) which are designed to bridge health services delivery gaps and approaches at the grassroot, by creating demand for available health services at the health centers.
The CHIPS program is designed to ensure follow-up of pregnant women and children to access ANC services and immunization services respectively and other available services in the nearest facilities”.
The New comprehensive community health management information system (CHMIS) tool will help generate quality, timely and reliable data that will reveal gaps and where the state is doing well that will further inform decision and needed intervention.
She further maintained that quality data collated from communities will help address various challenges in the health sector while also appreciating the state governor for his selfless disposition towards the implementation of health policies and the improvement of healthcare delivery in the state. She also thanked the federal government for acknowledging that there are gaps in the current HMIS tools and for providing solution to tackle the gaps. She also appreciated them for picking Cross River State as one of the states to pilot the tool.
She encouraged those to be trained on the new tools to pay attention and be very involved as they will cascade all information and knowledge acquired to those in their LGAs.
In his response, the Honourable Minister of Health represented by Mrs Osindeinde Ademilayo, intimated that accurate data will bring to awareness various challenges faced by states and specific programs thereby helping in managing problems.
She reiterated Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening the health system of the country by applying a bottom up approach.
In his remark, a consultant in the Federal Ministry of Health on Community Health Management Information System, Dr Nathaniel Afolabi disclosed that, the Ministry will partner with the state government in training Facilitators on quality data collection and implementation processes for basic programs in the state.
He said, with collaborations with UNICEF , the Ministry will undergo preliminary training in three selected Local Government Areas namely, Boki, Odukpani and Obudu on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in preparation for field exercise for selected diseases and outbreaks.
“The aims and roles of CHMIS is to provide data for informed Community decision making, as well as promote community ownership of health intervention and help monitor progress. It is aimed at encouraging pregnant women on the importance of Antenatal care to eradicate maternal mortality and other common diseases around us”.
He further added that the Scheme will help incorporate data in Communities and bring them up among Community workers which are more reliable, with tendency towards improving efficiency for effective decision making.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Cross River State, Dr Iwara Iwara, stated that tools are to be used at the community level noting that Participants are to be trained because without adequate data from the source, there will be no accurate data at the State level; therefore urging everyone to maintain attentiveness so as to arrive at appropriate and accurate data and to cascade the knowledge gain to the community.
A Representative of UNICEF, Dr Olusoji Akinleye emphasized the importance of quality data as a tool for advocacy and decision making, encouraging the participants to prioritize the training as it will help the state achieve reliable data.
Also present were members from Federal Ministry of Health, Cross River State Ministry of Health,, Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and Dr Fatima of UNICEF who immensely contributed their quota for the success of the programme.
High point of the event was the official Flag-off of the training by His Excellency, Sen Prof Ben Ayade ably represented by the Director General, Dr Janet Ekpenyong.
Globally, Data is said to be the focal agent of change, planning, development in every field of endeavor comprising of selective methods including processes of Data Collected, Data reporting, data analysis and implementation. The pilot will be in three LGAs as plans are in the way for scale up to other LGAS in the state.
