Category: People
Change takes time, but not too much
Feb 9, 2016
I have always liked this quote by Bill Gates, as it reflects both my own experience in global health as well as the changing digital health landscape. A little over eight years ago, I started at PATH. Year one was quite a shock after working for 18 years in software and international trade. The business model, the acronyms—all were new to me and I knew next to nothing about global health. But I had amazing colleagues who took the time to educate me, listening to and answering my constant questions. While we came from different backgrounds, we shared a desire to change the world.
Read More
Reflections from the field: Better data, better health.
Jan 12, 2016
Last month I was in Arusha to participate in the BID Learning Network discussion meeting and visit facilities where the BID Initiative is working to enhance immunization and overall health service delivery through improved data collection, quality, and use.
Read MoreThe Role of Paper to Digital Data Solutions
Jan 6, 2016
In response to this article by Dr. Mahad Ibrahim on the role of data during the Ebola outbreak, some interesting questions were sparked among our team. The piece evoked a lot of great insights about the opportunities and challenges the piece addresses, as well as how we see those topics evidenced in our VillageReach work.
Read More
Unique Identifiers for Routine Immunizations
Dec 16, 2015
A baby is born. Immediately, that baby’s identity is linked to his or her mother. When the baby goes to the health facility for the first of its vaccinations, the mother’s name and identification papers are critical. Almost every service the baby receives at the health center is connected to the mother because he or she did not receive an official, unique form of identification when born.
Read More
Kicking-Off Development of Zambia’s Immunization Registry
Nov 18, 2015
In September 2015, Zambia’s Ministry of Health and the BID Initiative selected the University of Oslo (UiO) as its partner to build a national immunization registry. Recently, members of the Zambia and global BID Initiative teams met with UiO’s technical team to learn more about user requirements for the immunization registry.
Read More
Barcodes are beginning to stick
Oct 22, 2015
A mother removes a sticker from her child’s health card. The act in and of itself seems harmless enough, but the motivation at the center of her decision is what the BID Initiative is not only trying to determine, but influence.
Read More
Exciting changes for Mareu Health Facility
Oct 16, 2015
Mareu village is situated 50 kilometers from Arusha town in the King’ori ward. The village is four kilometers from Mareu health center, one of four health centers part of early testing during the BID Initiative’s phase zero. During this phase, interventions were tested and fine-tuned to ensure their relevance and appropriateness for other districts in Tanzania.
Read More
How Africa Can Benefit from the Data Revolution
Oct 7, 2015
Implementing a national electronic immunization system is such a huge undertaking that even many high-income, developed countries have not been successful.
Read MoreReturn on Investment: Strengthening People, Processes, and Technology Improves Supply Chain Performance in Tanzania
Sep 30, 2015
Like many of the countries involved with the BID Initiative, Tanzania identified data visibility to stock status, especially from lower levels of the health system, as one of its primary challenges.
Read MoreThe District Weighs in on Data Dashboards
Aug 26, 2015
During a recent trip to Tanzania, I observed firsthand the BID Initiative’s progress in health facilities in and around Arusha. The familiarity nurses had with the newly introduced tablets, their ability to navigate through the electronic immunization registry and the adaptation of their work flow to account for the new technologies, including paper tools, within their health facilities were all highly encouraging. I also heard about some of the existing and new challenges they are experiencing, such as the hesitation of some mothers to affix a barcode to their child’s health card.
Read More