Integrating Family Planning Data in Uganda’s Health Management Information System

Abstract

Uganda’s health management information system (HMIS) was established in 1985 to collect and analyze national data on morbidity from communicable and noncommunicable diseases, reproductive health, family planning (FP), and immunization (Kintu, et al., 2004). The routine health data reporting system has evolved to the current platform known as the district health information system, version 2 (DHIS 2), which began in 2011 in a few districts and was rolled out to all districts in Uganda in 2012 (Kiberu, et al., 2014). Few studies have explored the mechanisms for integrating FP data from the public and private health sectors in Uganda’s national HMIS. This study aimed to investigate the barriers, facilitators, and best practices of integrating these FP data in the district and national HMIS in Uganda. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in Kampala, Jinja, and Hoima Districts. Primary data were collected from 16 key informant interviews (KIIs) and a multistakeholder dialogue (MSD) workshop comprised of 11 participants. The KIIs included three Ministry of Health (MOH) officers, three HMIS focal persons at nongovernmental organizations, four HMIS focal persons who were district biostatisticians or medical records officers, and six providers who were medical records officers at public and private health facilities. We conducted a systematic review of the HMIS in sub-Saharan African countries that are FP priorities for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The systematic literature review covered 2008–2016.