National Health Observatory: A tool to strengthen the health information system for evidence-based decision making and health policy formulation in Cameroon

Ndoungue, Viviane Fossouo; Tiwoda, Christie; Gnigninanjouena, Oumarou; Bataliack, Serge Marcial; Mbondji, Ebongué; Labat, Aline

doi:10.1016/j.hpopen.2022.100085

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…First, strengthening the capacity of health leadership in planning and conducting systems performance monitoring at all health facilities promotes accountability to health data, increasing data use. When the health team understands their responsibility and accountability, teamwork is cultivated, which is essential to improving data use, quality for informed decision-making, policy change, and planning (4,26,29). Second, having multisectoral HIS steering committees, developing HIS interoperability roadmaps, and creating a costed work plan could strongly generate the demand for HIS maturity assessments (30).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Health Information System Maturity Assessments to Guide Strategic Priorities: Perspectives from African Leaders

Vumbugwa,

Puttkammer,

Majaha

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Introduction Central to a functional public health system is a strong health information ecosystem and robust data use. Many low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) face the task of digitizing their health information systems (HIS). For health leaders, deciding what to prioritize when investing in HIS strengthening is central to this daunting challenge. Objectives The study explores how HIS maturity assessment contributes to HIS strengthening, describes the facilitators and barriers to HIS maturity assessments, and how health leaders can prioritize conducting maturity assessments. Methods This descriptive qualitative study employed key informant interviews (KIIs) with fourteen eHealth leaders at national and international levels working or supporting Ministries of Health’s national HIS in LMICs. Results were analyzed using Dedoose Version 9.0 to develop themes based on the health systems' building blocks as a framework for identifying facilitators and barriers to conducting HIS maturity assessment. Results Participants identified maturity assessments as a critical beginning step to HIS strengthening, showing the system’s performance, and building a baseline response to systematic data quality challenges. Barriers to conducting HIS maturity assessment include lacking collaborators’ buy-in, fragmented vision, low financial/human resources, and overdependence on donor priorities. Non-supportive policies, a lack of execution champions, and an inadequately skilled workforce in conducting maturity assessments or negotiating for their prioritization hinder maturity assessment implementation. Frequently identified facilitators to promoting HIS maturity assessment include multi-stakeholder engagement, understanding the country’s HIS ecosystem, and priorities to appropriately integrate maturity assessment objectives. Recommendations include capacity building in data use and conducting maturity assessments at all health system levels to grow the demand and value of HIS maturity assessments. Conclusion Promoting HIS maturity assessments can help leaders prioritize areas to improve in the HIS ecosystem, making appropriate decisions that steward HIS maturity advancement. Addressing challenges that hinder HIS assessment implementation holds promise to identify a pathway to a strengthened health system.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Health Information System Maturity Assessments to Guide Strategic Priorities: Perspectives from African Leaders

Vumbugwa,

Puttkammer,

Majaha

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Information System (NHIS) in Cameroon impacts negatively the coordination and management of health information, resulting in the absence of norms and standards for the use of health information [20]. With regard to the timeliness of noti cation of the disease, WHO recommends immediate noti cation (without delay) of every immediately noti able disease or health event, with a weekly noti cation [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The choice of the West region as the study site is justi ed by the fact that this region had the lowest performance (72%) relative to surveillance of human rabies between January 2019 and December 2021 as compared to the 05 regions bordering the Western region of Cameroon (North-West: 78%; South-West 80%; Littoral: 83%; Centre: 82%; Adamaoua: 82%) [20].…”

Section: Study Design and Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Awareness of rabies control and challenges to the intersectoral management of dog bites in Western Cameroon

Djuikoue,

Toutcho,

Savadogo

et al. 2023

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Background: Rabies is a zoonotic and a typical One Health challenge. Intersectoral surveillance is a critical component of rabies control programmes. However, the under-reporting of animal bite cases and the lack of coordination between sectors involved in the surveillance may lead to failure in the control efforts of this public health concern. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the operational level. Two separate survey grids were used for simultaneous data collection in the study sites, including 385 dog bite victims within communities and 273 human health and animal health professionals responsible for rabies surveillance in health and veterinary facilities Results: There was no association (OR: 0,76; CI: 0,452-1,39 and p=0.38) between data loss and professional profile of the surveillance focal points; however, there was a significant association between the under-reporting of physical aggression cases of dog bites by victims and the level of education (OR: 1.75; IC:1.02-2.99 and P=0.0413), and with individuals younger than 20 years and those over 50 years of age (OR:0.39; CI:0.16-0.96 and p=0.0415). Indeed, there was a positively and statistically significant association (OR: 3.11; CI: 1.94-5.00 and p<0.0001) between knowledge of rabies with under-reporting of dog bites by community members; while negatively associated CI: 0.52-1.82 and p=0.9226) with the level of education. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in the under-performance in case reporting whether the surveillance focal points had received prior training on rabies surveillance (OR: 1.14; CI: 0.64-2.01 and p=0.66), had knowledge of operational case definition (OR: 0.93; CI: 0.54- 1.58 and p=0.7851) or /and knew the manifestation of rabies (OR: 0.88; CI: 0.51-1.51and p=0.6408). Conclusion: The under-reporting of rabies bites in the West region of Cameroon is as a consequence of negligence and lack of application of the one health approach on rabies surveillance by the surveillance focal points in District health sectors, leading to the no-exhaustive collection and patchy dissemination of dog bite data.

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National Health Observatory: A tool to strengthen the health information system for evidence-based decision making and health policy formulation in Cameroon

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

Leveraging Health Information System Maturity Assessments to Guide Strategic Priorities: Perspectives from African Leaders

Leveraging Health Information System Maturity Assessments to Guide Strategic Priorities: Perspectives from African Leaders

Awareness of rabies control and challenges to the intersectoral management of dog bites in Western Cameroon

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