Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Details for Mechanism ID: 13138
Country/Region: Uganda
Year: 2012
Main Partner: Public Health Informatics Institute
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: Implementing Agency
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $400,000

There are almost no public health informatics cadres in Uganda, a situation similar in other PEPFAR countries. Because of this limitation, complete information needed by PEPFAR programs to make public health decisions is not available, and if available its incomplete, irregular, inaccurate and standards-based. Similarly, the public health workforce lacks knowledge and skill in key informatics competencies, such as the ability to identify and address information-based problems. This lack of knowledge and skill leads to poorly-designed, duplicative parallel information systems that frequently do not meet their intended needs and waste resources. Public health leaders therefore need a degree of understanding and awareness to appreciate how they must adapt their programs in response to their changing work environment. Training a cadre of public health Informatics professionals capable of offering public health informatics solutions to best address these health afflictions will have a major impact on public health in Uganda. CDC-Uganda plans to support the development of an approach to delivering the core informatics knowledge essential for building demonstrable competence in areas critical to the future information role of public health and to find an underlying business model that is most cost-effective, sustainable and reaching the largest possible number of scholars and public health workers. Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) continuously supports the learning needs of public health practitioners to support their work in an e-health system and an information-driven society.

Funding for Strategic Information (HVSI): $400,000

Objective 1: PHII is also funded to contribute to the alignment of USG supported systems with the national information system by providing support to MoH Resource Center to develop an eHealth plan and to operationalize the national Health Sector HIV/AIDS M&E Framework.

PHII Provides Ugandas MOH staff with TA to develop and implement a national public health informatics policy/strategy to guide the enterprise architecture and standards for e-health/Health Information SystemBuild an e-health technology framework and roadmapFinalize a draft e-health policy and strategy. In addition to completing a written draft, additional reviews will be needed, some via facilitated sessions with senior individuals of the Ministry and possibly other key donors and benchmarked against other country plans and technology strategies.Develop an e-Health implementation plan (the 1000-day plan). This plan would be done in 3 parts: 2013 plan, mid-term plan, and a long-term plan. The implementation plan is dependent upon reaching key decisions of the technology and policy strategies.

Objective 2: PHII is funded to support strong/robust basic M&E systems at service delivery points and districts by supporting SI Fellowships, Masters and Short-term training programs develop appropriate curricula and strengthen capacity of SI staff perform better data analysis, presentation, interpretation and data quality improvement (Developing and Maintaining M&E Systems, including data quality assurance, Periodic Performance Reports).In collaboration with University Schools of Public Health in Uganda/region, initiate the phase of understanding the learning needs of the target audience, designing the structure, approach and pre-testing the public health informatics curriculum that was developed based on core informatics competencies for CDC-Atlanta informatics fellowship program, adapt the curriculum to the Ugandan/African setting and support the formation of a Steering Committee, which will guide the smooth running of the project, submission for approval of the PHI curriculum and oversee the planning and implementation of the PHI curriculum pre-testing activities.

The proposed approach should be scaled up rapidly to be useful throughout the region and an approach that provides the schools and programs with which CDC-Uganda partner in the future to mold the core curriculum to meet country and local needs. This program should be of great benefit to Uganda but also to a larger regional (East/Southern Africa) public health workforce. Once completed, the developed curriculum should rapidly translate into course offerings. The process used in developing the curriculum should also document the requirements for delivery of courses i.e., distance-based, web-based, team-based, country guided, etc.

Once completed, the developed curriculum will rapidly translate into course offerings. The process that will be used in developing the curriculum will also document the requirements for delivery of courses including distance-based, web-based, team-based and country guided modules.

PHII will build leadership capacity within the health sector workforce and develop a project plan for the MoH and CDC-Uganda to guide the ehealth planning efforts.

Cross Cutting Budget Categories and Known Amounts Total: $190,000
Human Resources for Health $190,000