Health Cards (46)
-----------------
Arie Verburgh wrote:
We are still struggling to appoint our District Health Managers and
their teams; many of these people have been acting in their posts for
more than a year. Clinics and hospitals are understaffed. We have just
experienced severe and embarrassing drug shortages (especially of
vaccines). So, I would say our priorities are, of course, to render
effective and efficient health services at district level, but we
haven't been able to lay a good foundation (optimal organisational
structures and logistical systems) from which to operate.
The foundation of an effective and efficient health care system(HCS) is its
information system. HIS is most often a secondary consideration when it
comes to new HCS initiatives. This is especially true in planning and
resource allocation. Take a look at any DIP and look at the ratio of funds
allocated to HIS in comparison to other intervention strategies. It's
appauling, and yet the success of any initiative is dependent on
information. A healthy foundation(HIS) will not only support the HCS, but
it will be the driving force. Put the foundation in place first, then build
the HCS intervention structure. I assure you, you will be in the minority,
and your focus will be questioned. However, it will be only a matter of
time before the naysayers are silenced. The accuracy and usefullness of
your data will forever silence their skepticism.
I am still unclear on where this site is (to know how it compares to our
own situation). Could you give us more information?
The original development site was at the Hopital Albert Schweitzer in
Deschapelles, Haiti. If you recall any of the news concerning Haiti from
1993 to 1995, you will only begin to understand the prodigious problems
that permeated that country. The two main physicians that I worked with on
the project, who also worked for many years in Africa, as well numerous
other third world countries, thought that it was amazing that we
accomplished what we did considering the "challenges" we were confronting.
So there is hope, if it could be done in Haiti, considering the context, it
can be done anywhere. The IMPACT presentation we forwarded to you should
give you an idea as to the site setting.
In the light of what I said above about our problems, obtaining such
funds might be difficult, but I think we should try this, if not across
the whole province, at least in 1 district as a pilot. We are busy
negotiating for donor funds and I will now include this idea in our
proposal.
We are currently seeking pilot sites for the implementation of IMPACT. We
would like the system to be tested in other countries and are currently
discussing possible sites in Africa and Asia with a major PVO.
Dieter, thanks for the web address.
Cheers!
Bill
--
William Billingsley
mailto:wbillingsley@aztechcon.com
--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.