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Category: Health Information and Management Systems

  • National and subnational HIV/AIDS coordination: are global health initiatives closing the gap between intent and practice?

    The research article prepared by the international experts and representatives of Curatio International Foundation was published in the international journal Globalization and Health web site. The article is available at US National Library of Medicine as well.

    The paper identifies residual national and subnational obstacles to effective coordination and optimal use of funds by focal GHIs, which these GHIs, other donors and country partners need to collectively address.

    Follow the link to view the abstract and the full version of the article.

  • Representatives of CIF Visit 2010 Global Health Information Forum

    On January 28-30, Ms. Keti Goguadze and Ms. Ivdity Chikovani, Project Managers at Curatio International Foundation presented Spot lights of Georgia Health Information System Strengthening at 2010 Global Health Information Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

    The Global Health Information Forum, hosted by Health Metrics Network (HMN) and the Prince Mahidol Award Conference, with the support of the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and other partners brought together a range of experts, governments, donor agencies and organizations with a shared interest in Health Information System (HIS) improvement, to renew energy and commitment to investing in and building the capacities of health information systems.Follow the links to obtain further information on Global Health Information Forum 2010 and HMN or view the poster.

  • CoReform Project and the Ministry of Health Mark the Completion of the First Stage of Trainings on ICPC2 Application

    Today, July 24th the CIF under the auspices of the USAID funded CoReform project hosted the award ceremony dedicated to the completion of the first stage of the training course on Classifications for Hospital, Ambulatory and Laboratory interventions.

    30 Master Trainers from Primary Health Care Centers upon the training completion were honored to be awarded with special certificates in International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC 2) by Alexander Kvitashvili, the Minister of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs.

    Today’s closing event was preceded by series of trainings launched in May and aimed at delivering knowledge upon application of International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC 2) for ambulatory services. During 3 months period over 130 employees from 28 health care centers have been trained.

    The Minister in his greeting speech congratulated participants with completion of the course mentioning that “Continuous education is necessary for any specialist to grow professionally”. He also expressed his gratitude towards USAID for funding projects thus beneficial for Georgian community. “The recent visit of the US Vice President Joe Biden gave us the clear signal that US government stands with Georgia in undertaking any effort addressing political, economic or social issues. USAID on the behalf of the US government shows its support to development of these fields and this is very important for us. Initiatives it funds will lead to welfare of our citizens”, state the Minister. 

    Julian Simidjiyski, the Chief of Party of CoReform project from ABT Associates thanked the Minister for honoring the event and stressed the contribution of trainers. “Without their dedication this event would not have happened”, he said.

    George Khechinashvili, Program Management Specialist of the Office of Health and Social Development of the USAID Caucasus in his speech put special emphasis on the importance of the International Classifications for Medical Interventions for the country’s health sector and expressed his deep gratitude to the CoReform project, CIF and project experts in doing such an amazing job.

    As mentioned by the participants the training has turned out to be exceptionally beneficial for them in terms of content and efficient manner of delivering the information.

    “It is almost 10-11 years we have been participating in trainings provided in the field of health care, although none of the trainings have been as beneficial as this one. I deemed how we have been working without ICPC until today, how we managed to set priorities and how the process of reporting worked. Adoption of this system is extremely important for improving the performance of providers as well as their services”, said Rusudan Chitaishvili, on behalf of ALDAGI BCI Assistance.

    Trainings are still underway and by the end of September 40 health care professionals will be trained additionally. This time it will focus on NOMESCO Classification for Surgical Procedures (NCSP).

    Noteworthy, the Ministry has obtained the license for application of the ICPC 2 in Georgia. Currently the Ministry is proceeding with issuing the normative decree to make all classifications official national classifications.

  • Georgia HIS Strategic Plan posted on Health Metrics Network website

    HMN takes the initiative to publish HIS strategic plan produced by Curatio International Foundation on its website.

    The first baseline assessment of HIS was carried out in 2006 in East Georgia by Curatio International Foundation. It applied the HMN (Health Metrics Network) Framework as a guide and HMN Health Information System Situation Analysis Tool. The assessment results provided strong foundation to building a more comprehensive HIS development plan, which has been realized in the strategic plan.Development of Strategic Plan for the Development of Health Information Systems in Georgia became possible within the framework of a grant pledged by HMN.

    HMN has always been contributing to facilitation of active engagement of countries, development partners, technical agencies, and stakeholders through various means. In June 2009 HMN started publishing the results of all assessments and strategic plans on its own website. HMN management believes that sharing information is an important step towards better understanding of the context of the country and strengthening HIS. This will also solidify links between stakeholders and partners focusing on HIS reform issues.

    Follow the link to view the document

  • Sentinel Surveillance Method to Provide Reliable HIV/AIDS Statistical Data

    In the framework of the Global Fund project “Establishment of evidence-base for national HIV/AIDS program by strengthening the HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country” Curatio International Foundation has launched 2 sentinel surveillance sites at STI clinics.

    In March 2009 two surveillance sites were established at STI Clinics in Tbilisi and Batumi. The effort representing one of the components of the Global Fund project “Establishment of evidence-base for national HIV/AIDS program by strengthening the HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country” aimed at calculating HIV prevalence among sub-population. Both sites were equipped with test systems necessary for implementation of sentinel epidemiological surveillance. During four months 988 and 254 patients have been tested in Tbilisi and Batumi respectively.

    Collection of data through sentinel surveillance will make possible to provide evidence-grounded HIV/AIDS statistics and strenghten HIV/AIDS surveillance in Georgia.

    The results of the survey will be available by the end of July.

    In the framework of the same project the Behavior Surveillance Surveys (BSS) with biomarker component among intravenous drug users (IDUs), Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs), and prisoners has been carried out.

  • CIF Hosts workshop on Classifications for Hospital and Laboratory intervention

    On March 5, 2009 the CIF, in the framework of USAID funded CoReform project organized the workshop on Classifications for Hospital and Laboratory intervention.

    On March 5, 2009 the workshop on Classifications for Hospital, Ambulatory and Laboratory interventions was held. Over 23 participants representing MOLSHA, Health and Social Programs Agency (HeSPA), Georgian Insurance Association (GIA), Social Services Agency, private insurance companies and USAID along with other members of the project attended the workshop. Event participants were presented and handed-over those classifications (NCSP and laboratory interventions) which do not require license as a necessary precondition for implementation.

    The effort became possible in the framework of one of the components of the USAID funded CoReform project which aims at supporting insurance companies in registering and processing the information received from providers and establishing effective reporting system between private insurance companies and the Ministry. This was achieved through a) translating and adapting to the Georgian realities international classifications for medical interventions: NOMESCO Classification for Surgical Procedures (NCSP) and the International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC 2) developed by WONCA; and b) developing suitable for Georgia laboratory interventions widely using international experience.

    After securing license for ICPC2 (since NCSP does not need it) the Ministry planns to issue normative decree to make all classifications official national classifications.

  • CIF conducted a workshop to discuss HIV/AIDS Surveillance System Assessment results

    Trainings on Mental Health Financing conducted with the financial support of Adam Smith Foundation end successfully. 25 representatives from Mental Health NGOs, Association of psychiatrics, psychiatric coalition, ombudsmen office and media enjoyed an opportunity of gaining sound understanding of conceptual model of mental health financing. On June 9 the conclusive meeting following the series of trainings on Mental Health Financing was held. It summed up the experience gained during the training course by the participants, appraising effectiveness of the course, and analyzing results of the survey carried out on the previous meeting.

    Trainings conducted during April 22- May 15 2008 were delivered by the highly qualified consultant trainer Dr. George Gotsadze. 25 representatives from Mental Health NGOs, Association of psychiatrics, psychiatric coalition, ombudsmen office and media enjoyed an opportunity of gaining sound understanding of conceptual model of mental health financing.

    The course consisted of 4 comprehensive, interactive type trainings each of them increasing capacity of participants for advocating for the needs of mentally ill people through intense engagement with the government on public financial management.

    Comparative analysis of local practices of mental health financing with this of selected European countries gave the rich landscape of sources and chains of mental health financing.

    The evaluation questionnaire delivered at the end of the course proved the trainings highly informative and beneficial since they enabled organizations to fully realize their shortfalls and take actions for improving their performance.

    This effort became possible in the framework of the project implemented by the Curatio International Foundation with the financial support of Adam Smith Foundation.

  • Georgia Health Information and Disease Surveillance Reform

    Georgia Health Information and Disease Surveillance Reform project was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Aid/ Caucasus (USAID) and was implemented in partnership with Partners for Health Reform Plus (PHRplus) Project and Curatio International Foundation. The objective of the project was to strengthen Immunization Management Information System (MIS) and Vaccine Preventable Disease (VPD) Surveillance. The project ran from January 2002 until September 2006.

    The project was designed and implemented in coordination with principal stakeholders from the Interagency Coordinating Committee (ICC) of Georgia. ICC members were invited from the Department of Public Health, Ministry of Labour, Health, and Social Affairs (MoLHSA), the National Centre for Disease Control and Medical Statistics (NCDC), and international organizations, such as USAID and UN Agencies (UNICEF, WHO). The project aimed to provide assistance to the Government of Georgia to improve the Immunization Information System and the Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases to provide public health managers, providers of health services, and other stakeholders with appropriate information for making correct strategic, tactical, and operative decisions to keep the VPD epidemiological situation under control. The project also aimed to reduce the morbidity and mortality burden of these diseases on the population and to determine how to use the available vaccines and other programme resources more efficiently.

    Immunization MIS:

    The improved MIS model is based on an accurate census of the child population, performed by every health facility in its catchments area on an annual basis. The model enables the Health workers to more accurately determine target population, project vaccine needs, compute immunization coverage, and evaluate performance of individual facilities. The reformed MIS model also includes a number of innovations that allow better immunization program management and more rational use of resources at all levels. Countrywide implementation of the reformed MIS was supported by the Decree of the MoLHSA.

    The reform package included:

    Immunization MIS guidelines for health care providers and public health workers
    Job aids for public health and facility workers
    Software application “GEOVAC” for the district, regional and National levels. The application improves the process of data unification, enables to determine poorly performing administrative units, and identifies underlying reasons causing the deficiencies.

  • Management Information System Development

    The project Safe Motherhood Initiative was funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Management Science for Health (MSH) in partnership with Curatio International Foundation, Program for Appropriate Technology (PATH), and Emory University. The duration of the project was September 2000 – January 2003.

    The Project consisted of four components: Management and Information system development; community mobilization and provider-client interactions; enhancement of maternal and perinatal clinical performance; STD/Anemia prevalence study.

    In the frame of Safe Motherhood Initiative Project, a new Perinatal Surveillance system was developed by the American and Georgian experts. This system aimed to render critical data for regional (and facility) level decision-making and response planning, which the experts hoped would improve the quality of rendered services to the population. The system enabled decision makers to catch majority of the deliveries, which took place in Region (Rayon).