Uganda Ministry of Health Launches National E-Health System

On July 16, the Uganda Ministry of Health’s Resource Center held an event to launch Vision 2012—a framework for developing and implementing a national health information system (NHIS). The event introduced several e-health systems encompassed by the NHIS, including the Ministry’s human resources information system (HRIS) and knowledge management portal, both supported by the Capacity Project.

Uganda’s HRIS consists of a training, certification and licensure tracking system, the Project’s iHRIS Qualify, and an HR management system, the Project’s iHRIS Manage. iHRIS Qualify was installed in the four professional health councils beginning in 2006, and iHRIS Manage was installed at the central Ministry of Health and in five districts, beginning in May 2008. The knowledge management portal, a digital library containing 450 health publications pertinent to Uganda, was installed in August 2008.

The day began with a screening of the Project’s video about HRIS strengthening in Uganda, followed by presentations and demonstrations of the systems and a question-and-answer session. Over 100 people attended, including the minister of health and the minister of information communication technology.

The Ministry of Health ran a three-page advertisement about the event in The New Vision, Uganda’s national newspaper, devoting large sections to the knowledge management portal and the HRIS. The HRIS section highlighted how the country is using the Project’s iHRIS Qualify and iHRIS Manage software to improve access to health workforce information. In the announcement, the minister of health is quoted stating, “The main purpose of the NHIS is to support evidence-based decision-making and transparency.”

This is the first time the Capacity Project’s HRIS work has been written about in a national newspaper. We are very excited about this acknowledgement!