Stakeholders in the health sector have commended the improvement in primary healthcare data quality in six states following the implementation of the African Field Epidemiology Network’s (AFENET’s) strengthening data quality to improve the PHC Programme Performance (PHC-DQI) project in the states.
The states are Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto and Yobe. AFENET is a non-profit organisation with its secretariat in Kampala, Uganda.
The stakeholders gave the commendation yesterday during the close-out ceremony of the project in Abuja.
AFENET’s Regional Technical Coordinator, Dr Patrick Mboya Nguku, said that in 2021, the organisation, with funding from the Bill Gates Foundation, commenced the implementation of the project through collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and state governments.
He said the project supported the six states using non-traditional (behavioural) approaches to improve PHC data quality.
He noted that some of the achievements of the project included the domestication of data quality improvement plan at the sub-national level, capacity building in collaboration with NYSC for human resources for health, as well as strengthening data management systems in LGAs and in health facilities.
He further said, “Primary healthcare is the fulcrum of health, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and health security. So, any effort towards improving data quality at that level has a huge impact as the discussion on the national health renewal investment plan at sub national level is happening.”
He added that there was the need to sustain lessons learnt on improving data quality at that level.
Ndadilnasiya Endie Waziri, Immunisation Advisor for AFENET, said the project marked a significant step in Nigeria’s health data management by setting a precedent for future initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes through accurate and reliable data.
She said, “Initially, data wasn’t readily available on our national reporting platform. This project has ensured that the six participating states now have accessible and reliable data. It’s one thing to have data available; it’s another to ensure that it’s quality data you can rely on.
“The project has made data not only accessible, but also trustworthy. When we report that 10 children have been vaccinated in a ward, it means exactly 10 children have been vaccinated. This is crucial for accurate health planning and intervention.”
Bauchi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Adamu Sambo, said the state had witnessed more robust and qualitative data as a result of the AFENET project, adding that it had further attracted more research to the state.
The representative from Borno State, Yerwana Tijjani, said the intervention led to improvement in data quality that further aided informed decision making processes for quality health service delivery in the state.
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