Support for ICT Health Policy and Strategy - Uganda

In co-operation with the Ministry of Health a process was started in the third quarter of 2005 to support the ministry via a Roundtable like process. Goals were to fine tune the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy and work out a coherent implementation plan for this ICT policy

A small Task Force of 5 members was put in place with two members from outside the Ministry.

Health plays a large role in poverty eradication. The 1998 Ugandan Participatory Poverty Assessment Programme (UPPAP) identified ill health as the most frequent cause and reason for poverty.  This shows that if poverty is to be eradicated then the health sector has a critical role to play. 

The Government of Uganda has embraced the use of ICT for poverty eradication and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Therefore the Ministry of Health did develop - in line with amongst others the PEAP, the National ICT policy – a Health Sector ICT Policy, and requested IICD for support to develop an implementation programme so as to assure effective use of ICT, to avoid duplication, to harmonize current initiatives and to better control recurrent costs. An ICT implementation strategy developed and validated through a multi-stakeholder approach helps to make the most effective use of ICT.

Read more about IICD's Uganda Country Programme.

After a slow start in 2006, the focus has shifted from developing a policy and an implementation plan (“development of a document”) to raising awareness and getting input for the current implementation plan from all stakeholders plus validation of this strategy. The implementation strategy was –recommended by the development partners- quickly adapted to be more in line with HSSP II (Health Strategic Plan with as main priorities: Continuous Medical Education (CME), Heath management Information System (HMIS), Strengthening of referral system). A tour was organised to 12 locations all over Uganda to consult stakeholders and to create awareness on possible roles of ICT’s in Health. These seminars gave a very nice input to the implementation strategy (and after all policy making is a process)!.

For example in the Jinja seminar (see http://www.iicd.org/articles/iicdnews.2006-06-15.2494187676)  it was approved (and taken up into the implementation strategy) to formalise the use of cell phones by heath workers to strengthen the referral system.

In 2007 a workshop was implemented by TaskForce for key decision makers from MoH which did lead to the recommendation to start a pilot with one referral hospital. To-date, as the policy is not completed, the pilot has not yet stated.

Alos in 2007, a short seminar/meeting was implemented by the TaskForce with support of IICD for the Donor Working Group Health on request of Sida (Sida leads the DWG-Health) which did lead to a follow-up seminar on ICT for Health. The main donors (Sida, DFID, EU, USAID- all present at that meeting) would like to see a bigger role for ICT in Health.

(1)   To develop capacities within MoH for ICT policy formulation, implementation, ICT management and monitoring.

(2)   To develop a set of fundamental ICT investment guidelines aimed at supporting the introduction, expansion and development of ICT applications within the sector that are based on harmonised ICT platforms, thus avoiding sub-optimal investment in dissimilar systems.

(3)   To monitor implementation of the ICT investment guidelines.

(4)   To enhance awareness and support training for all health workers using a “Train the Trainer” (TTT} approach using the approach of the “Resource Management Units”/ “End-User Support Centres” as described in the Health sector ICT policy

(5)   To formulate ICT programmes identified in the Health Sector ICT Policy

(6) To fine-tune the Health Sector ICT Policy

A coherent use of ICT's in the Health sector will have an impact on all health related Millennium Development Goals.

Read more about IICD's approach towards Health.

Policy making within such a large Ministry is a lenghty process.