GHIS Modularization Consultant - that's me!

I am officially the GHIS Modularization Consultant for the Health Sector Development Unit (HSDU). Actually, my contract has been signed between me and the Permanent Secretary (PS) at the Ministry of Health. I wish I could explain his role - there's a Minister of Health, a Minister within the Ministry, the PS and the Chief Medical Officer - they're all pretty up there in importance. I don't know how they decide who does what, but the PS apparently gets to sign consultant contracts.

I am getting paid through a project under the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Not sure how the funding works, but I know I had to go through a lot of approval stages because I was selected for the position and there was no ad posted. So it took a little while to get the contract even though I should have started officially under it when the CSIH contract ended. Apparently I had to be evaluated (which I guess went well though I don't know what they were evaluating) and they granted "no objection" which means HSDU could make a contract and the money would be there for me. I was a free agent for a bit!

I think I've mentioned what I do before. The health information system started out being developed with a focus on HIV/AIDS, OI/STI and TB, then some MCH material was added - but overall a generic system was created with general reports. I am looking at the system by department/program and ensuring that it captures the required information/indicators for the program and their donor agencies. I've completed looking at TB, VCT and Pharmacy - and I am currently working on Outpatient/Specialist clinics, ART and OI/STI. It's been interesting looking at all the demands that a program and its donors have that are similar, but just different enough that they require a different indicator (an example of an indicator is the number of people tested sputum positive - test for TB, a variation is the number of people tested sputum positive on first visit... both tell different things). There is a lot of demand for reports and I find sometimes it's interesting when I include changes that improve the clinic aspect and others question its importance because it is not relevant to any report. The clinic is my first priority, reporting is second - it doesn't matter if the system makes the reports if the system isn't user friendly.

An important detail for some people is that I am on a four month contract that ends September 30th - so look for me in Canada at the beginning of October!