Anambra State Government in partnership with European Union and World Health Organisation (EU/WHO) held a 2-Day State Logistics Management Information System (LMIS) for Data Tools Training.The 2-Day training was held July 29 and July 30.WHO Technical Lead, Mrs Nkiruka Ukor said that EU/WHO was partnering with the state health Ministry in the project known as “Strengthening the Health Systems for Achieving Universal Health Coverage’’.Mrs Ukor noted that the efficiency, effectiveness of the Monitoring and Evaluation Officers (M&EO’s) system depended on the participants, state and LGA M&EO’s and Health Management Information System Officers.
Health System Strengthening (HSS) project is funded by EU with objective of improving the Health System Pillars, specifically Health Information and Health Financing in the state in order to ensure that people have access to improved healthcare.’’The WHO technical lead who also works as Health Information Officer at WHO Country Office Abuja said these while interacting with health an Information Officer at the just-concluded 2-Day LMIS data tools training in Awka.
So, what we do are expected to improve service delivery, drive service delivery and ultimately improve the health of our people.It will also help to improve institutional capacity within the Ministry of Health and agencies as well as the technical capacities of healthcare workers in the state.’’She noted that for interventions to be successful in a donor or partner supported intervention in any state, the state on their own must play their role.
In Anambra State, I will say that from the time the project started about three years ago we have enjoyed a good relationship with the government and the Ministry of Health.Particularly in the last one year, the health sector leadership is really interested and wants to see things improved at the health system.The commissioner is actually pushing for an acceleration of the contents or the activities and the intervention plans within the project and one of those activities is why we are here.’’
Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Health Mrs Edith Nwachukwu, said that the EU/WHO as the implementing partners supported the ministry to carry out the 2-Day LMIS training.The state has been planning to train both state and local government level officers on how to quantify data tools.These are tools that we use in gathering data from the local government levels to the state level and we looked at the projection for data capturing.’’
Mrs Nwachukwu explained that the workshop would help in stopping resource wastage in printing of tools used for data capturing and whereby the needs of the state could not be quantified.At times, we procure excess tools and sometimes we have shortages.This projection will help to curtail all forms of wastages here and there as far as procurement of data is concerned.’’
She commended the EU/WHO’s health system strengthening project support in the state and according to her; they have also helped to build the capacity of staff in the Ministry.Technical Adviser to the commissioner, Dr Obinna Akabuike explained that those trained were State Monitoring and Evaluation Officers (M&EO’s) from local government and state levels.Dr Akabuike emphasised the importance of data in the health system and public health as something that was crucial and significant.
“These Monitoring and Evaluation Officers are our data collectors and that is why they are being trained so that they will be able to manage the tools used in the data management.We want to be able to manage the tools well and we don’t want to get too much on waste and we don’t want to run out, that is what we are doing in the training.This will be the new approach in going forward and it saves money at the end of the day as they are leaving; we are sure that they can do the job well when they get back to their various stations.
