District Health Information System (DHIS) is used in many parts of the world to report aggregated data at the district level. Tanzania is one of the countries where the ministry of health endorsed DHIS for such use. Although the system has been rolled out recently throughout the country, Vertical Health Programmes (VHPs) are on their way to fully adopting the system. The objective of this study was to analyse the acceptance process of DHIS by three VHPs so as to examine the facilitating conditions and the challenges that they face. Data was collected through interviews, document review and observation. Analysis of the data showed the facilitating conditions to be having a consensus on which VHP indicators to include in the DHIS, existence of infrastructure including the routine Health Information System (HIS), and support from development partners. Challenges of acceptance process of DHIS include inadequate human resource for HIS, data quality and information flow issues, and existence of separate monitoring and evaluation systems for the VHPs. The study recommends integration or interoperation of DHIS with VHP systems, creating a pool of resources for HIS, training and motivating human resource for HIS.

BackgroundInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been utilised globally for advancing social and economic development. As information becomes key to enlightening development initiatives, the role of mobile technology-based ICT services is becoming more significant. The aim of this study was to design and implement a mHealth data model with an intention of improving mothers’ knowledge of Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) services in rural environments and to remind mothers who do not have access to mobile phones to attend antenatal care.MethodsThe methodology adopted in this research was participatory action research. A phased approach was utilised to answer the research question. The phases were: diagnosis of the problem, action planning, action taking, evaluation and reflection. The study was conducted in Chamwino district of Dodoma region, Tanzania. Reproductive and Child Health sections of Buigiri dispensary and Chamwino health centre were purposively selected. Data were collected through key informant interviews, document review, focus group discussion and observation. Content analysis methods were utilised during analysis. Consequently, the data model was designed, implemented and evaluated.ResultsChallenges of information dissemination in low resource settings noted in this study are: mobile phone ownership and access of mothers, vertical coordination of health services and low staffing levels of health workers. Mothers who do not own mobile phones can leverage phone ownership of community leaders, TBAs, CHWs and relatives. This in turn facilitates communication of health messages to mothers.ConclusionsAlthough this study was conducted in a low resource setting, mobile network coverage was good and thus SMS technology could be used. Research should be conducted on how to disseminate similar information in remote areas without mobile coverage.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12911-018-0622-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives: The Broad objective: To assess knowledge and attitudes of secondary school students in Ilala district towards the nursing profession Specifi c objectives: To determine the awareness of nursing as a profession by secondary school students in Ilala district, explore factors that promote aspiration to enroll in nursing schools and to explore factors that deter aspiration to enroll in nursing schools. Methods: The study was exploratory cross sectional using both qualitative and quantitative methods and was conducted in Azania and Jangwani secondary schools in Ilala district. The sample size included 50 male and 50 female students who were opting for Physics, Chemistry and Biology from form III to form VI in the above mentioned schools. Results: Awareness above 50% for males was 79.2% (95%CI: 66.6, 91.8) while that of females was 76.9 % (95% CI: 65.4, 88.4). Awareness below 50% was 31.4% (95%CI: 8.4, 54.4) for the males while that for females was 31.1% (95% CI: 11.3, 50.9). Non awareness was mostly about nurses being capable of independent practice, making decisions for themselves, working with high technology, following physician's orders without questioning and feeling good about what they do. Factors that were pointed out included: social, economical, educational and individual perceptions of different students. Although students were aware of nursing, they did not want to opt to join the profession. Conclusion: This study has shown that students are at least aware of the profession but they do not want to opt for it due to the image they have of it from the public. The factors that have been addressed in this research have to be put in consideration if at all we are to increase the nurse patient ratio in Tanzania.

The synergetic prevalence of Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infections led to the launch of integrated TB/HIV services, officially coined "collaborative TB/HIV activities". The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in Tanzania works with multiple implementing partners in achieving collaborative TB/HIV goals. This study assessed challenges, best practices and strategies for standardizing Health Information Systems (HIS) for integrated TB/HIV services. A descriptive cross sectional study design employing both qualitative methods was used. Data were collected through key informant interviews, observation of existing practices, and document review. Absence of health information system standards control mechanisms was noted to be the cardinal challenge. The study recommends a need to establish formal mechanisms to control information system standards across partners, reviewing existing national TB/HIV policy guidelines to include adequate aspects of monitoring and evaluation, establishing a functional partner regulatory authority and implementing data quality assurance mechanisms.

No abstract