Watch an interview with Alex Chikwese, Director of Finance for ZNBTS.
In Zambia, blood safety is among the priority medical interventions
that are expected to significantly contribute to the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (“MDGs”), especially those related to
child and maternal health, fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, TB and
malaria. The Zambia National Blood Transfusion Service (“ZNBTS”), -
who have approached IICD for technical support - is working towards
the development and implementation of an appropriate electronic blood
donor tracking and retention system, Once implemented, the project is
expected to improve the efficiency and efficacy of blood donor
managment, including increased dependency on repeat donors, increases
in blood collections and reductions in discarded samples, due to
transfusion transmissible infections.
Health lies at the heart of the
United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). When applied in a smart
way, ICT-enabled development initiatives are making a world of difference in
this area. Health management systems can help tackle the problems of
poor-quality data, inefficient processing of information, and duplicated
efforts among parallel health institutions. They can also significantly reduce the number of medical
fatalities associated with human error. At the same time, continuous medical
education can be provided to rural health workers through the imaginative use
of multimedia.
All of
IICD’s projects in the Health sector address the above-mentioned healthcare
problems in rural regions, where people are beyond the reach of healthcare
experts, most of whom live and work in the capitals or in major cities. In this
sector, ICT indirectly contributes to MDGs 4 and 5 – seeking to reduce child
mortality and improve maternal health – and MDG 6, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases. To reach these objectives, IICD’s projects focus on the
integration and alignment of ICT in various relevant areas:
Setting up
administration and management systems in the Health sector in general but
particularly in hospitals, introducing information systems, and building up the
information-management capacities of health staff. These systems allow for a
better management of patients, finances, drugs, treatments and disease.
Enabling
online consultation between doctors and specialists, which leads to better
diagnosis and treatment of patients, especially in hospitals and health centres
that lack specialised expertise.
Supporting
the development of improved training materials for the continuous professional
training of medical staff, similar to the applications used in the Education
sector.
In a notable contrast to its work
in the other focal sectors, IICD is working on these issues in the Health
sector more and more according to a programmatic approach. This is realised
through our close collaboration with religiously affiliated organisations that
provide healthcare, supported either by CORDAID or government-supported health
institutions. The main programmes are found in Mali, Uganda, Tanzania, and
Zambia. The participating partner organisations are among the largest
healthcare providers in their respective countries.
Results for 2007
In 2007,
IICD supported 17 Health projects in Ghana, Mali, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. These projects currently reach around 60
regional and district-level hospitals and health centres, and their outreach is
rapidly extending to other institutions. Users of ICT include various different
groups of health workers, including management, administrative staff, doctors
and nurses.
Based on an
evaluation of 9 Health programmes, a number of ‘lessons learned’[1]
on the use and value of ICT in the Health sector have been identified:
The level
of participation among women is much higher as a result of their strong numbers
in the Health sector work force, primarily in lower positions. In general,
women and men are at equal levels in terms of satisfaction and impact. However,
we noticed a lower level in terms of feelings of empowerment amongst female
participants. An explanation for this has yet to be found.
IICD’s
central focus on rural areas is evident in the Health sector, where most of the
participating health institutions and 82% of the users are found. It is worth
mentioning here that 12% of the users found ICT to have a negative impact. One
explanation for this is that many users felt that the projects mostly reach the
privileged. This may imply that, despite the fact that the partners are found
in rural areas, the interventions still focus on hospitals in district or
provincial towns, rather than on health centres in more isolated areas.
The high
level of education in this sector is understandable, as the user group consists
primarily of professionals. At the same time, it is surprising that the income
levels of a large part of the users are still below average.
Satisfaction,
awareness and empowerment levels amongst users in the sector projects all
increased over this period. In general, it was found that the users in this
sector showed high levels of personal interest alongside their professional
interest in building their own capacities, and this extends also to the use of
ICT.
Once again
in 2007, following a significant increase in 2006, slightly more than 50% of
the participants found the ICT projects to provide a direct contribution to
more efficient and effective healthcare services. This trend could be observed
across all four of the participating countries. This is particularly
encouraging for the success of the programme in Tanzania, which only recently
began.
[1] Note that the questionnaire from 2007 differed from
those used in previous years. As the 2007 questionnaire was adjusted to better
suit the projects, this will no doubt account for part of the increase in
impact.
impact on health sector
Using ICT within the sector health
In this short video (0:26 min), Nic Moens - Country Manager at IICD, talks about using ICT within the sector health. Watch the video and read the complete interview.
Watch the video and read the complete interview.
Projects per sector
Downloads
Use the links below to download either the full annual report or the executive summaries, fo offline viewing or to print your own copy.
