Dr. Francis Dien Mwansa: EPI manager celebrates ‘my system’ – how country partnerships have defined BID’s success
By Mali Kambandu, Communications Officer, BID Initiative
Feb 19, 2019
Posted in Packaging, People, Policies & Practices, Products
This blog series launches the BID Story, and recounts our journey to design, develop, and implement data quality and use interventions in Tanzania and Zambia between 2014 and 2018.
In July 2017, the Zambia Ministry of Health (MOH) and the BID Initiative hosted a showcase event to demonstrate the data quality and use interventions that had been collaboratively developed in an iterative process since 2014. During this event, a health worker from Monze in Southern Province shared his experience with data use tools, such as the Zambia Electronic Immunization Registry (ZEIR).
Dr. Francis Dien Mwansa, Zambia’s National Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Manager, also took to the front of the room to demonstrate ZEIR’s functions to the audience. After the demonstration, a participant from a partner organization raised her hand and asked, “I keep hearing you say ‘my, my.’ Is this an MOH system or is it BID’s? Please explain, we’re getting confused.”
Dr. Mwansa smiled and said, “This is my system,” touching his chest for emphasis. “And I am from MOH.”
Keeping step with the Ministry of Health
This confidence and ownership exemplifies how far the BID Initiative and MOH have come in developing tools that will address data accessibility, quality, and use challenges in the health service, particularly in immunization.
The Ministry of Health has a strong connection to the data quality and use interventions because of the dynamic way in which the ministry partnered with the BID Initiative. Instead of dictating interventions and strategies for implementation, BID worked hand-in-hand with the MOH and User Advisory Groups to identify and then execute an adaptable package of solutions.
To read the full profile, visit the BID Story.