Data.FI Project

Happy new year from Data.FI!    During 2024, the Data.FI Project achieved excellent outcomes in ending #HIV as a public health threat, wrapping up our successful #COVID19 activities, and leveraging innovative technologies to make #publichealth more effective, person-centered, and secure. We also made significant strides toward our objectives of building #incountrycapacity and fostering #mentorship initiatives, and we will continue to prioritize the development of #local expertise and #sustainable solutions moving forward. Over the last year, we worked in 17 countries and:    ☑️ Trained 9,603 individuals ☑️ Developed 106 analytical solutions and 205 indicator reference sheets   ☑️ Produced more than 300 reports, memos, training materials, and tools for government partners   ☑️ Held 529 data review meetings and developed 44 data use cases     ☑️ Held 5 webinars with 839 total attendees Thank you to all of our partners and colleagues who made this work possible, and to USAID for their continued support.    In the coming year, we will focus on building new #AI and #ML applications, as well as #knowledgetransfer, #countryled decision making, and the gradual handover of information systems and products to respective country governments and local stakeholders, all of which boost sustainability. #USAID #PEPFAR #PalladiumImpact #2024inReview 

The Digital Community System Toolkit guides community services stakeholders through the process of designing and adopting person-centered and integrated digital community systems (DCS).  In this short video (https://lnkd.in/g2Z8cyCx, 5:35 minutes), we explain how the Toolkit enables community service providers, health workers, educators, and social workers to collaborate as they work to understand the needs of the people they serve.  The Toolkit emphasizes the importance of a structured approach to ensure that DCS are centered around the individual and the community. Based partially on the discussions and activities that emerged from the DCS workshop held in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2023, resources from this toolkit offer insights and strategies for workshop planning, ecosystem assessment, understanding users and their requirements, DCS vision development, technical implementation considerations, and country roadmap development.  The Toolkit is designed to be adapted to address the specific needs and contexts of users, and we invite everyone to watch this introductory video on the fundamentals of DCS. If you would like to read further, the full Toolkit, co-authored by #USAID and #Data.FI, is available on our website:  https://lnkd.in/eA3H6StN Many thanks once more to the Toolkit’s authors, Netsanet A Nigussie, Pascal M., Amarynth Sichel, Joy Kamunyori, PMP, and Sriyanjit Perera, and to Denise Todloski and Laurence Claussen, who produced the video. #digitalcommunitysystem #USAID #digitalsolutions #personcentered #digitalsolutions

At a public event last week, Guatemala’s Minister of Health, Dr. Joaquin Barnoya, formally received the #neonatal health dashboard from the Guatemalan Sexual and Reproductive Health Program and #USAID. The neonatal health dashboard was developed with technical assistance from the Data.FI Project and in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) Information Technology Directorate. A major initiative developed over the past year, the dashboard contains prioritized indicators on data pulled from the health management information system used by MSPAS. It collates, organizes, and visualizes this data so that it is more easily accessible and actionable. The neonatal health is already helping MSPAS at the central and local level to monitor major health programs as well as what interventions are being pursued by health personnel. This makes long-term planning and short-term adjustments easier, allowing the Ministry to translate data into sustainable program improvements. In this way, it is an important achievement that will help strengthen improve health outcomes for mothers and children across #Guatemala. We are proud to have supported this work and congratulate all of our Guatemalan partners and colleagues for their efforts. #USAID #PalladiumImpact #CentralAmerica #datavisualizations #dashboard

En un evento público la semana pasada, el Ministro de Salud de Guatemala, Dr. Joaquin Barnoya, recibió el tablero de salud #neonatal de parte del Programa de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva y #USAID. El tablero de salud neonatal se desarrolló con la asistencia técnica de Data.FI y en colaboración con la Dirección de Tecnología de Información del Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social (MSPAS). Una importante iniciativa desarrollada durante el año pasado, el tablero contiene indicadores priorizados sobre datos extraídos del Sistema de Información Gerencial en Salud (SIGSA) utilizado por el MSPAS. Este recopila, organiza y visualiza estos datos para que sean más fácilmente accesibles y procesables. La salud neonatal ya está ayudando al MSPAS a nivel central y local a monitorear los principales programas de salud, así como las intervenciones que el personal de salud está llevando a cabo. Esto facilita la planificación a largo plazo y los ajustes a corto plazo, lo que permite al Ministerio traducir los datos en mejoras sostenibles. Es un logro importante que ayudará a fortalecer la mejora de los resultados de salud para las madres y los niños en toda #Guatemala. Estamos orgullosos de haber apoyado este trabajo y felicitamos a todos nuestros socios y colegas guatemaltecos por sus esfuerzos.

Our team had an incredible time at the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance (NISA) and Global Implementation Society (#GIS) Conference, held from November 14-16 in Abuja, Nigeria. With the theme "Driving Change: Everyday Implementation," the event was a hub of innovation and impactful discussions. Data.FI was a key stakeholder in the conference, participating in two panel sessions and hosting an exhibition booth. The first panel session was on Digital Interventions for Development Work, and was moderated by our Data Analytics and Visualization Specialist, Grace Ayo, with team members Chukwuemeka Nebe, Seyi Abolarin, and USAID's Bayo Mohammed Onimode. We highlighted the transformative power of the GIS-enabled Digital Micro-Planning Tool in advancing health outcomes, particularly in: ⚖️ Equity and Optimization: Prioritizing communities and ensuring fair resource distribution. 📲 Impact in Edo State: Enhanced coordination and targeting during the #LassaFever response in the state. 🔄 Sustainability: Plans to expand and integrate the tool with government data systems. The second panel session covered ‘The Future of Work: AI-Driven Policy, Practice, and Research,’ during which our Country Director, Otse Ogorry, discussed the opportunities and challenges of #AI in development work. At our booth we were able to showcase our innovative work and engage with conference participants to deepen partnerships and share our learnings. A big thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to the vibrant discussions, as well as to USAID for making it possible for us to attend the conference! #ImplementationScience #DigitalHealth #AI #Development #DataFI #NISA2024 #GIS2024

And that's a wrap! The #GlobalDigitalHealthForum has been an incredible conference. Data.FI and the entire Palladium: Make It Possible delegation were extremely active at #GDHF2024, with numerous visitors at our booth, multiple successful presentations, and the thrill of seeing two of our colleagues delivering opening remarks - Rose Nzyoka, Palladium's Country Representative for #Kenya, and Pascal M., Data.FI's Technical Director.    Some major highlights and “firsts” for this year include:     🌍 This year’s GDHF was not only the first to be hosted in Africa; it was also the largest—1,500 attendees registered for the virtual sessions, and there were more than 1,200 in-person attendees, of which about half were from African nations  🖥️ Of the nine major agenda tracks, most of which were within Data.FI’s primary technical areas, including #artificialintelligence and #machinelearning, data-driven health and building data ecosystems, systems interoperability, and digital health security, among others.  ⚕️ More than 20 Ministries of Health were represented, and we had several of them visit our Palladium booth!  🤝 On the last day during the closing ceremony, Alain Labrique, #WHO Director of the Dept. of Digital Health and Innovation, referenced an important and consistent theme of the forum: ‘Are we building for others, or are we building with them?’ That is a question we work to address daily as we conceptualize and implement sustainable solutions!    The GDHF is a unique opportunity to engage with our colleagues in the sector, share our implementation experience, and learn from others. We are privileged to have had the chance to participate in such a rich and important forum, and we look forward to applying the takeaways to our work in the coming year.    This year, we also put together several short videos of our colleagues sharing what makes this GDHF unique or what contribution Palladium was making. In case you missed them, you can see them all on Data.FI's LinkedIn page, but here is the one with Data.FI Project Director Shreshth Mawandia: https://lnkd.in/e9U6uPUa

In late November, the Data.FI/Guatemala team facilitated a workshop to validate the prototype of the #OneHealth dashboard, a digital tool that will integrate information on the environment, #animalhealth, and #publichealth from different Guatemalan government entities in order to strengthen information sharing and epidemiological surveillance. The meeting brought together the Technical Roundtable on Information Systems in One Health, a group that Data.FI has been working closely with during the development of the dashboard. The prototype that was validated will be the basis of further development on the finalized dashboard, which, when finished, will contain detailed data on avian influenza, rabies, leptospirosis, and foodborne diseases. This is a vital initiative because it will enable systematic information sharing between government sectors – including the Guatemala Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food. This will help ensure that the government is best able to prevent and respond to local or national emergencies. Building One Health systems recognizes that #globalhealthsecurity requires an integrated approach – only by responding equally to the human, animal, and environmental factors behind health threats can we keep our communities healthy and resilient. Congratulations to our colleagues and all of our partners in #Guatemala on this tremendous milestone! #USAID #CentralAmerica #environmentalhealth #dataanalytics #datavisualizations

The final day of the #GlobalDigitalHealthForum offered an engaging presentation on “Integrating Community-based Systems through the Botswana Health Information Exchange,” led by Milton Johane and supported by Thomas Lere, Tsholofelo Molefi, Tony Chebani, and INNOCENT GADILATOLWE GADILATOLWE. Data.FI/Botswana, together with the Botswana Ministry of Health, have focused on integrating three critical systems: the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Program, DREAMS Botswana (both of which run #DHIS2), and the still-in-development Digital Community-based Health Information System (DCHIS). The integration of the #OVC Program, DREAMS Botswana, and DCHIS through the Botswana Health Information Exchange (HIE) can lead to substantial improvements in health outcomes. By facilitating seamless #dataexchange, Data.FI supports a comprehensive understanding of social determinants of health and ensures that health services are accessible and equitable. As Johane noted, this initiative demonstrates significant innovation by applying the #FHIR standard to handle both clinical and non-clinical data exchanges, a relatively novel approach in the field of digital health. Building on previous initiatives and investments within global digital health, the project advances the field and provides a clear use case for the adoption and scale-up of integration. integrations. #GDHF #digtalhealth #digitalsolutions #DREAMS #OVC #Botswana  

Kenya's Electronic Medical Records System (KenyaEMR) is used in more than 2,400 facilities across the country and exemplifies how artificial intelligence (AI), when integrated into existing tools and workflows, can enable clinicians to improve HIV case detection and promote patient retention in HIV care.   This documentary, filmed at Railways Health Center in Kisumu County and showcased at the #GlobalDigitalHealthForum in Nairobi, illustrates how AI/ML-driven diagnostic tools within #KenyaEMR are used to identify patients at risk of #HIV early on, while supporting the management of patients' treatment by identifying those likely to interrupt from treatment.   Palladium: Make It Possible, in collaboration with Ciheb Kenya’s Entrench Program as the implementing partner, is proud to support the Ministry of Health, Kenya of Health and County Health Management Teams in their mission to develop and sustain innovative health information systems across Kenya. #EMR #Kenya #HIV #HealthInformationSystems #Palladium #CiHeb COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF KISUMU

During this final day of the #GDHF, Ishaq Gidado, Data.FI Strategic Information Specialist, Otse Ogorry, Data.FI/Nigeria Country Director, and Dr. Garba Danjuma, Taraba State Ministry of Health led an #interactiveworkshop, “Improving Viral Load Suppression for Pediatric and Young Adolescent Clients: A case study using Automated Partner Performance Reporting System (APPR) in Taraba State, Nigeria,” to boost low VL suppression rates among pediatric and young adolescents. A mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data, was employed to identify barriers to VL suppression in Taraba. Four root causes for low suppression rates were discovered: ineffective management of youth-friendly centers, poor tracking of missed drug collection appointments, non-alignment of strategies by service providers, and inadequate monitoring of VL data during pediatric meetings. Monthly IP meetings helped to align strategies, engage civil society organizations for better youth club management, build capacity for health workers to track missed appointments, and enhance #TWG meetings. By January 2023, 92% (1,516) of clients achieved VL suppression, an increase of 902 clients (23%) compared to the baseline. The success of the APPR and collaborative efforts serves as a model for similar settings, emphasizing the need to adapt and scale up accessible, easy-to-use tools for informed decision-making in public health programs. Gidado said he was “really excited to see how our session generated meaningful discussion on how digital tools implemented in Nigeria show evidence-based impact on a client's health outcome.” #GDHF #digitalsolutions #viralsuppression #Nigeria #VL #MonitoringandEvaluation