Category: People
The Year 2016 in Photos
Dec 21, 2016
As 2016 comes to a close, we look back at the great progress we made this year towards providing countries with an adaptable package of solutions to improve data quality, collection and use. Thank you for following along on our journey and we look forward to an exciting and fruitful 2017.
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Uncovering a registry champion
Dec 14, 2016
During roll out in Karatu district, “Binamu,” a Swahili word for “cousin,” became very popular among the implementation team. Binamu is the cousin to an RCH Nurse at Kansay Health Centre, a high-volume health facility where we have introduced the new electronic immunization registry. Binamu, whose given name is Raphael Joseph Buyi, is a medical attendant at the facility.
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Unleashing Digital Health to Save Lives
Dec 8, 2016
At PATH, our digital health work spans the entire software development lifecycle from analysis of information systems to deployment and long-term use of those systems. We work across health areas, such as immunization, supply chain, maternal and child health, and insurance to identify and address information management needs and improve data-driven decision-making.
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Tanzania demands coordinated investments in health data
Dec 5, 2016
On 21 October, 2016, 80 government, donor, and NGO partners gathered in a conference room in Dodoma, Tanzania. The Deputy Minister of Health addressed the rapt audience, and told them of Tanzania’s bold aims to accelerate the transformation of Tanzania’s health system through the use of data to measure performance and improve service provision.
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BLN Awards Grant to The Gambia
Oct 27, 2016
We are pleased to share that our first grant has been awarded to The Gambia! The BID Learning Network offers the small grant program to facilitate the advancement of design member country goals that align with the BID Initiative priorities. The program’s objective tie into the BLN’s overall goals, including experimenting with projects in countries to determine their applicability; and using this experience to inform national and global decision-making.
Read MoreProject Profile – BID Initiative
Oct 19, 2016
The second half of the 20th century marked a period of great advancement in immunization. As donors and national governments stepped up investments to develop vaccines and strengthen routine immunization programs, infectious diseases that once ravaged much of the world were either wiped out or largely stripped of their devastating impact. The achievements of the past century now read like a laundry list—smallpox eradicated, wild poliovirus is more than 99% eliminated and cases of measles and Hib among children under-five now reduced to record low numbers.
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Getting out of the way so countries can lead: Takeaways from facilitating the Sierra Leone HIS Interoperability Workshop in Freetown
Sep 29, 2016
Arriving at Lungi International Airport in Sierra Leone is an adventure. After clearing immigration and collecting your bags, you must take a sea taxi to cross the Sierra Leone River to get to Freetown. In early August, we took this route along with a number of experts in health information systems (HIS) to facilitate the first ever Sierra Leone HIS Interoperability Workshop held August 2 – 4, 2016.
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Nurse Joyce Ngowi: Learning a new electronic immunization registry to provide better service
Sep 21, 2016
I recently sat down with Joyce Ngowi, the nurse in charge of the Reproductive Child Health (RCH) Department at Endabash Health Centre in Karatu District, a rural facility located about 50 kilometers from Karatu town. This facility was opened in 1973 by the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the founder of Tanzania. It provides services to a number of villages in the area. Joyce’s department in particular handles all issues concerning babies, pregnant women, family planning, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission.
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Increased collaboration among partners in Zambia to improve immunization
Aug 23, 2016
Optimizing immunisation coverage in Zambia is an important goal, achievable with Ministry of Health leadership and close collaboration among partners. Implementation of appropriate technology could help to increase coverage, but new technology is not a solution in itself. The skill and engagement of users are critical elements for the success of any innovation.
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My early memories led to a life serving others
Aug 17, 2016
My most vivid memories of my early childhood are twofold: lying on a hospital bed with my legs in the air, and watching my younger brother draw his last breath as a result of severe hot water burns he suffered during his hospitalization in what was then Northern Rhodesia. According to my parents, I should not have remembered these instances as I was less than five years old at the time, but these memories remain crystal clear.
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