Health Facility Assessment Workshop

MEASURE Evaluation has scheduled a workshop to improve data use, reinforce the importance of health facility (HF) data collection as part of health information systems (HIS), and better advocate for HF surveys, censuses and mapping. The workshop, hosted by IHFAN in partnership with East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and the Ministry of Health, Uganda, aims to:

• Orient participants in different types of existing health facility assessments and their components, data collection instruments, techniques, and core indicators derived from data
• Present examples of HFA data and actual results and how they have been or can be used to inform policy making
• Train participants in how to extract, analyze and interpret real data, venturing implications for programmatic decision-making
• Increase participants' comprehension of the linkages between HFA and health systems planning, monitoring and evaluation, including advantages and limitations

Participants are recommended primarily by the MOHs of the six countries in the EAC, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania-Mainland and Tanzania-Zanzibar. Recommendations should be sent to: EAC Secretariat, Attention: Dr. Stanley Sonoiya, Health Coordinator, P.O. Box 1096 Arusha, Tanzania AICC Kilimanjaro Wing, 5th Fl, eac@eachq.org, sonoiya@eachq.org, +255-27-250.4253/8, +256.77.262.3928

Funding, primarily for in-country participants, is provided by USAID and other International Health Facility Assessment Network (IHFAN) partners. At the end of the meeting, country delegates are expected to develop action plans for funding, undertaking, and using HFA data in their countries.

IHFAN is committed to strengthening health facility-based data collection and use worldwide through improved communication, coordination, and networking. The technical activities of the group include:

• development of resources to help users navigate existing HF censuses and surveys (including profiles of existing data collection methods and tools; HFA sampling approaches; HFA repository of surveys);
• development of a core set of indicators for cross-country comparison of health systems performance; and technical assistance for developing training courses to improve country capacity to analyze and use health systems data.

Team members also contribute towards the development and implementation of HFA tools, guidelines, and strategies to promote coordination of, and collaboration in, HF data work worldwide.