Having access to accurate and reliable information on the health of communities is essential in order to be able to provide appropriate services.
The collection of this information is important not only at the health facility level, but also at the community level, given that the majority of deaths and illnesses never reach the health facility and so frequently go unreported.
AMREF is implementing a community based health management information system programme in Kenya which does just this – works with communities to capture health data at the grassroots level.
Volunteer community health workers have been trained to be able to collect relevant information within their villages (such as the number births, cases of malaria, immunisation coverage) and enter this information into central computer systems which collate this information at the district level. This information is used by the district health authorities to direct their resources and services to where they are most needed. Simultaneously, community health workers are able to analyse the information and present it to their communities, educating them on health issues common in their village, and empowering them to take control of their own health.
Project Manager, Nichasius Ndwiga, aptly states:
“Unless communities know their problems, they cannot develop defence mechanisms. You won’t develop solutions if someone tells you to do it. But if you own whatever you are trying to do, you can use the information as a catalyst to help your community’s development".
Watch "Taking control of your own health", a documentary made by six AMREF staff during a ten day participatory training session with FLL on Community Based Health Management Information System (CBHMIS) in Makueni District, Kenya. FLL is a dutch company which organises and facilitates video workshops for communities to explore issues relating to sexuality, sexual and cultural diversity, human rights and health.