Rolling out change management interventions in Zambia
By Mali Kambandu, Communications Officer, BID Initiative Zambia
Jan 26, 2017
Posted in People, Policies & Practices, Products
Photo: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation/John Healey. Mahatma Gandhi Clinic in Livingstone, Zambia.
Since 2014, the BID Initiative has worked closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Zambia to improve immunization data quality and use. To reach an immunization coverage of 90%, both groups knew that strengthening data collection, quality, and use would be critical.
After close collaboration and development, we are pleased to have rolled out interventions addressing data-related challenges in our first district in Southern Province. These interventions include a data-use guide for health workers, targeted supportive supervision, a data use campaign, and a peer support network. The work began by setting objectives and requirements that would help bring the desired data use improvements to the Zambia health service.
The BID Initiative and MOH are focused on rolling out these change management interventions to continue laying the groundwork for improving data quality and increasing the use of data for decision-making. We are also working to develop an electronic immunization registry (EIR) based on earlier lessons learned. Before launching the EIR, we are first investing in creating a culture of data use, which is critical to enabling health workers to make better decisions on service delivery and ways to improve care. When the EIR is fully developed and ready, it will be an additional tool to ease data collection and access, allowing decision-making to be more informed and efficient for health facility and district staff.
Photo: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation/John Healey. Mahatma Gandhi Clinic in Livingstone, Zambia.
We have completed the first set of health facility visits in Livingstone district, and are moving ahead with additional districts in Southern Province. This is a very exciting time for the BID team and MOH in Zambia, and we look forward to documenting and sharing our success with our supportive partners.
Track our progress facility-by-facility on our interactive Zambia map.