Researchers in the health sector have expressed concern regarding the Uganda Health Information and Digital Strategic Plan.
In May, the health ministry launched the new Uganda Health Information and Digital Health Strategic Plan 2020-2025 aimed at further strengthening the health information ecosystem in the country by promoting the responsible use of digital tools to document and share patient data.
“The plan also addresses late reporting in health facilities across the country, institutionalizes the use of patient-level digital systems at the point of care, and provides a blueprint for digital health implementation, research, and innovation to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health interventions,” said the ministry.
Irene Wanyana, a Research Associate from Makerere University School of Public Health, revealed that while coordinating the course she noticed a significant gap between digital technology and healthcare providers. She remarked, “There is a major gap when it comes to embracing digital tools for diagnosis and treatment.
Many doctors still prefer physical interactions when diagnosing a patient, even though certain health complications could be addressed more efficiently by a machine.
” She added, “Due to a lack of awareness, some healthcare providers fear that these innovations in the health sector will render them jobless rather than reduce their burden.”
According to Wanyana, there is a need to localize some of the innovations so that they can be deployed in the most effective places to avoid wastage and misallocation of government resources.
She also emphasized the importance of government collaboration with other implementers and the private sector to educate them on the operation of the system.
“So it’s a collective effort to bridge this gap, and it will involve a lot of work,” Wanyana emphasized.
Paul Mbaka, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of information management at the Ministry of Health, explained that the digital tools are being rolled out across health facilities by the ministry to act as job aids for health workers and to aid in disease surveillance efforts in the country.
“These digital tools are meant to assist healthcare professionals and enhance disease surveillance efforts,” Mbaka stated. “We aim to have them fully operational in health facilities across the country by mid-next year.”
Dr. Silver Kiyimba, the Principal Investigator at the Integrated Health Information Management System Technologies, outlined that the innovation’s primary goal is to improve service delivery in the health sector by tracking the performance of each health sector and providing feedback to the government for proper planning.
Furthermore, Dr. Kiyimba highlighted that the system can also monitor the performance and attendance of health workers, as well as capture patient details using national ID cards to reduce patient backlogs and expedite service delivery.
“Because the system is so versatile, it can streamline the health system, ensuring that each patient is efficiently and correctly managed, and each health worker verified,” Dr. Kiyimba stated.