IICD supported project: ICT Policy for the Health Sector

Document Actions

Countries: Ghana [GH]
Sectors: health
image: project in state 4

Summary

A general ICT policy strategy and programme for the Health Sector in Ghana has not yet been developed. In the National Health policy papers development by the Government of Ghana and the Ministry of Health, ICT is addressed in a fractional way. Several specific proposals have been presented and the different stakeholders in the Health Sector have initiated a small number of ICT projects. Some of the initiatives have been successful in addressing some of the information and communication problems that the Health Sector is facing. Yet, it has resulted in a sub-optimal allocation of scarce human and financial resources and incompatible systems. To address this issue, the Ministry of Health has undertaken Sector ICT Roundtable workshop on Health Care Provision in Ghana in October 1999, in partnership with IICD and ISOG. The workshop resulted in a series of policy recommendations and identified priority areas in which ICT is expected to be most effective in supporting health care provision in Ghana. A first priority was given to the development of an ICT policy strategy plan.

Update

Updated: 2006-08-03

A draft ICT Policy and Strategy Plan for the Health Sector is produced
and discussed at a workshop with high-level representatives of the
Ministry of Health. The draft policy is further elaborated by a team of
representatives of the relevant departments of the Ministry of Health
and a representative of IICD and ISOG. The government approved the ICT
policy document. In a second step of the process, teams of
representatives of the different entities and levels in the sector
started with the formulation of more specific ICT programs in four ICT
priority areas, including Performance Measurement, Data Record systems,
Budget, Planning & Management and Surveillance and Rapid Response
systems. Detailed elaboration of the two programmes, deemed as
priority, is in the process of being done and those are the Data
Records System, and the Surveillance and Rapid Response System.

Objectives

The project objective is to develop an ICT policy and programme for the health sector, based on active participation of key stakeholders in the health sector.

Planned outputs

The project outputs include the preparation of an ICT Policy Strategy and Program for the health sector and a series of workshops for awareness and validation policy strategy plan with stakeholders in the health sector. The Policy will address:
1) the role of ICT in enhancing the National Health objectives and strategies;
2) ICT policy guidelines supporting an efficient and effective introduction of ICT in the health sector;
3) an ICT infrastructure policy supporting the development of an efficient and effective basis ICT infrastructure in the health sector; and
4) an Information Systems Policy for the development of Information Systems in priority areas in the health care sector in Ghana.

Development Impacts

The program' s wider development objective is to support the delivery of health care services in Ghana through the mainstreaming of ICT in key health care activities. ICT can contribute to an improvement of the access, quality and efficiency of health care provision through a better communication, data and information management.

At primary health care level, ICT can 1) strengthen the quality of care through better data and information anmanagement assisting in improvement of the working environment and quality assurance, and 2) enhance the efficiency of care through better information management, planning and budget mechanisms and financial management. At central health care level ICT can 1) improve the capacity for policy analysis, performance monitoring and evaluation and 2) strengthen central support systems for health information management.