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“Timely and accurate health information forms the essential foundation for making policy on planning, implementing and evaluating all health programs” – World Health Organization
eHealth and Information System Nigeria is a project of the Global Information Internship Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The goal of this initiative is to design, develop and implement health information systems to improve Maternal and Reproductive Health in Nigeria. This involves creating an “OpenMRS Nigeria Express” setup that will have ready to deploy hardware, software and power sources to extend the reach of important health informatics work into even rural parts of Northern Nigeria.
The first implementation was piloted in Kaduna, Nigeria during the Summer of 2009 with the Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences and Technology. This project demonstrated potential to improve health information management in Northern Nigeria, with very little extra required in terms of resources, time and money. The effective and expanded use of OpenMRS opened up new possibilities for improved quality of care. The data collection alone provided a never before seen view into the maternal and child health crisis.
Now, back in California, we are working on completing the OpenMRS system focusing on Maternal and Reproductive Health. The finished system will be a complete clinical data system with customized forms, pharmacy and lab management, quick patient registration and data collection, and automated reports. Further enhancements will include a touch-screen interface for improved ease of use, mobile phone connections for community data collection and a system for managing patient ID cards. To address the persistent problems with electricity we are experimenting with powering the setup with solar and battery backups.
For more information about the eHealth Nigeria project or to get involved please use the contact form.