By Patrick Jaramogi

MINISTRY of Health will now be in position to know the amount of drugs needed for particular districts following the integration of the Uganda Health Information Network (UHIN) into the ministry.

UHIN is funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) Canada at a tune of USD3m (sh60m).

The Assistant Commissioner Health Services in the ministry of health Dr. Edward Mukooyo said the idea was conceived in 2003 to provide a two-way communication system linking remote health workers with districts and national health system managers.

“UHIN was designed to enhance health care providers’ access to health care information and speed decision makers’ access to accurate public health data,” he said.

Mukooyo was addressing district health officers who are going to implement the new project at a workshop held at Esella country hotel in Najjera on Thursday.

He said the project that was piloted in Rakai, Mable, Manafwa and Lyantonde districts has equipped 700 healthcare providers with Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) to gather information needed for treating patients.

“Through this project, the district health services obtain timely and accurate data from various levels of health centers including reports on infectious disease surveillance, facility usage and information related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” he said.

He said the project has provided the ministry with an efficient and cost effective way of fulfilling its mandate to deliver quality health services to the population of the districts.

Berhane Gebru, the director of programs, of the US based Ideas Changing Lives (AED) Satellife Center for Health Information and Technology said the PDA distributed comes with a digital mobile medical library.

The mobile library, said Berhane consists of treatment guidelines, procedures, medical dictionary. Drug data base, medical calculators and a wide range of medical reference materials.

AED is a global leader in developing solutions to the everyday information needs of health professionals working in communities.

Dr. Sam Obbo, the medical officer Lyantonde hospital said the electronic medical library is the only reference point they have in the district.

“The mobile medical library enables us to make better diagnosis, decisions for treatment and drug choices,” he said.

Mbale District Health officer, Dr. Francis Abaimo said the project has led to fewer disruptions of health services to the population due to reduced travel to residential workshops.

The IDRC senior programme specialists Edith Ofwono Adera urged government to sustain the project since it will strengthen the health system.