On February 1st, 2021, Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF) and implementing partners, the Lafiya project and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), facilitated the monthly planning meeting for Local Technical Assistants (LTAs) in Kaduna State. The meeting was held virtually, with 23 LTAs and the LTA state coordinator in attendance. Also present were representatives from the Kaduna State Ministry of Health (SMoH), Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board (SPHCB), and the Data Manager, totaling 35 persons.
A consolidated report for January fieldwork was presented during the meeting, success stories were shared, and challenges vis-a-vis mitigation steps were discussed. The Open Data Kit (ODK) and electronic Data Quality Assessment (eDQA) tools were also assessed for functionality, and a planning session was held for February’s fieldwork.
Following the demand for quality data for planning, reporting, evaluation, and informed decision making in Kaduna State, HSDF, in collaboration with the Kaduna State health agencies (SMoH & SPHCB), and partners (Lafiya project & CHAI), facilitated the recruitment, training, and deployment of 23 LTAs to work across the 23 LGAs in Kaduna State. In the course of the LTAs onboarding, HSDF facilitated a training exercise on the use of reporting tools-monthly electronic Data Quality Assessment (eDQA), Data Demand and Use (DDU) template, monthly plan, and narrative templates.
Since the project commenced in October 2020, it has recorded a steady marginal data quality improvement from the baseline scores of 63.6% carried out in July 2020 to 67%, 73.2%, and 78.2% in August, September, and October 2020, respectively. With regards to capacity building, over 500 Health Care Workers (Officers-In-Charge and Medical Review Officers) have been trained and mentored on the use of the 2019 version of NHMIS data collection tools. Furthermore, the demand for data use has witnessed a significant improvement from 59% in September 2020 to 64% in October and 68% in December 2020. Overall, the deployment of the eDQA has minimized the cost and delays associated with the paper-based DQA tools, thereby achieving timely results and feedback at each level.
The LTA state coordinator, Dr. Okpachi Chris Abbah (first right) carrying out a mentoring and supervisory visit at Bitaro Primary Health Centre, Jaba LGA, Kaduna State
We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Grants and Business Development Specialist to join our organization. The successful candidate will be responsible for identifying funding opportunities, developing grant proposals, and fostering partnerships with potential donors and stakeholders (regional and global). This role plays a vital part in securing funds and resources to support our organization’s mission and projects.
The consultant (working with the Accelerator team) will collect results from the tool, organize a meeting with stakeholders to discuss results from the tool, and produce a report on key findings and recommendations from the tool to be shared publicly.
We are currently in search of an experienced Public Health professional in Senegal to work on the anticipated Nutrition Capacity Development and Financing Platform and provide technical assistance to elevate nutrition financing and strengthen local capacity to support these efforts. The Associate must be bilingual (English and French).
