FG Partners AFENET To Strengthen Data Quality, Enhance PHCs

The Federal Ministry of Health in Collaboration with the African Field Epidemiology Network,
AFENET has implemented the Strengthening Data Quality to Improve Primary Health Care Program Performance and enhance decision making.

At the close of the program in Abuja, Dr. Patrick Nguku of the African Field Epidemiology Network said the project piloted in Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, and Yobe States was to ensure stakeholders handling data lived up to expectation.

He said in collaboration with relevant authorities, new approaches to data collection were adopted as the programme had successfully co-opted members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to address manpower deficit.

According to the Regional Director: “In 2021, with funding from the Gates Foundation and in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, the National Youth Service Corps and the State Governments, we began implementing Strengthening Data Quality Improve, PHC Program Performance Project.
The intervention was a learning model, where we use non-traditional otherwise known as behaviour approaches to address primary healthcare Data quality.”

“The project was implemented in Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano Sokoto and Yobe states. Four years on, we are proud to share our achievements, which include domestication of data quality improvements plan at the sub national level. Health system strengthening by the transition of world data into facilities M and E officers. Sub- national capacity building and collaboration with NYSC for human resources for health.”

“We are happy that we are here to really dialogue on what we have achieved and also what we have learnt and chart the way forward.
Primary health care is really the backbone of the health care delivery if Nigeria would achieve its universal health coverage.”

Dr. Nguku explained further, “We Work with the ministries of health in 6 states to strengthen the health system for disease control, surveillance response, especially issues that deal with data improvement in the six states to look at their primary healthcare Data systems and make sure that they have an improved data, as you know data is very important for decision making.”

Also speaking, the Immunization Advisor African Field Epidemiology Network AFENET, Endie Waziri said
the project has helped the six states to have readily available quality data.

In her words, “It has also helped in capacity building for health workers, ensuring that health workers are responsible for their beat, they see the need to report what they did exactly, without having to be under pressure for falsification.

“We have also been able to set up a Community Development Service and institutionalised it within the NYSC, in that every batch there are Corps members that are tasked with improving data quality as part of their CDS, and this has continued over time and we are hopeful that the partnership with NYSC will be sustained.”

In their separate goodwill messages, Bauchi State Commissioner of Health, Mr.Adamu Sambo and his counterpart from Borno State, Yerwana Tijani said the project had encouraged them to embark on research as a guiding principle to improve service delivery.

The highlight of the program was the overview of the project, which showcased the achievements and contributions of all stakeholders to the success and lessons learned for future program quality enhancement.

Florence Adewale, Edited By Grace Namiji