Republic of Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Country Resources General Health Strategies and Plans Liberia Policy document

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Description

Emerging from more than 14 years of destructive war, Liberia is highly committed to attaining an acceptable standard of health for its entire population in the shortest possible time. The Health Policy Framework 2007 and the National Health Plan (NHP) 2007-2011 have clearly described national goals and priorities. The Health Management Information System (HMIS) has been considered one of the health system’s essential building blocks and, therefore, has been placed as a high priority item. A separate Health Management Information System Policy has been developed to guide the information system design and operationalization. This strategy is guided by the HMIS Policy 2008 that embraced the framework and standards set by the Health Metrics Network. The HMIS thus developed will meet international standards and be fully compatible with health management information systems in the majority of low- and low- to middle-income countries worldwide.

The HMIS design will be guided by the principles of information for action. The HMIS is designed to provide programme managers and staff with reports on how well each programme is functioning and to alert the service providers and programme managers to take timely necessary corrective actions. The HMIS will provide systematic data on a regular basis, highlighting the level of achievements made by each programme. Each programme will explore the details and take corrective actions. The HMIS has well-defined information sources including routine versus periodic, institution (facility)-based versus population-based, service output versus resource input; all need to be developed and strengthened to have an effective HMIS.

The HMIS operationalization requires skilled people. Provision has been made to train all health workers in generating and using information; this includes record keeping, processing, and reporting skills. This strategy document is designed to be “rolling” or “evolving” in nature. In this regard, the strategy will be updated as system components are put in place and areas for additional strengthening are identified. An outline of activities, resource requirements, and timeframe will be included in each version.

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