Carolyne Njuguna: HMIS are critical in service delivery

PATH Kenya Country Director Carolyne Njuguna has underscored the critical role of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) and digitalisation in HIV service delivery integration in Kenya.

Njuguna, who is also the PATH East Africa Regional Hub Director was speaking at the HIV Service Integration Summit in Mombasa where she was co-chairing a session on HMIS, integration, digitization and digitalization.

She noted that use of digital technologies and other modern information management approaches have had a profound impact on the HIV response in Kenya adding that where it has been deployed, technology has helped to directly improve patient outcomes either as part of the intervention or as part of the strategy to implement critical interventions.

She emphasized that given this critical role, HMIS digitalism must form a critical pillar as Kenya embraces a move towards HIV service integration.

HMIS also referred to as routine health information systems contribute to country level monitoring and evaluation, research, policy and planning and generates indicators about outputs, outcomes and impact.

PATH which partners with local communities and diverse public and private partners in Kenya especially in Western parts of the country is embarking on data sets and models to help analyze, visualize, explore and disseminate information on population, health, HIV, and nutrition besides capturing diagnosis effectively and links to disease surveillance, prescriptions and individual health records.

The Deputy Chief of Party for USAID Nuru ya Mtoto project implemented in Western Kenya Dr Habel Alwanga disclosed that PATH had already pioneered HIV/AIDS Integration in over 4 counties namely Kakamega, Kisumu,Nyamira and Vihiga.

While lauding local communities and health service providers in those regions for embracing integration, Dr Alwanga acknowledged the paramount duty played by peer educators and peer mothers in low volume facilities towards this accomplishment.

“Part of our key mandate is integrating HIV with other health issues. Because HIV and TB are often linked with other diseases and health issues, PATH ensures integrated care for people living with these interrelated conditions. We also work to ensure that insights and lessons learned in confronting one disease are used to improve care and treatment for others” noted Alwang’a

Head of Division Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Health Dr Joyce Wamicwe who also joined discussion virtually affirmed that digital health provides for a framework for provision of e-Health services, establish an integrated e-Health management information system, data governance and protection of personal health information among others.

She reiterated on the implications held by digital health Act to the local health sector as it’s expected to promote healthcare delivery through more efficient and integrated services, facilitate data management and portability, and potentially position Kenya as a leader in digital health in the region.

The Kenya Health Management Information Systems project aims to ensure that HIV data collection paper records are digitised, scaling up data availability towards the delivery of patient-centred care and improve data demand and use for individual-level data.

Various initiatives are underway to support the use of telemedicine in Kenya to support the delivery of healthcare to all particularly in rural locations, and help resolve challenges including long waiting times to see specialists, poor health outcomes, and a lack of timely quality care.

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