2016 ICT4D Conference

South Africa is faced with high HIV/TB co-infection. Health officials strive to manage resources and treat HIV and TB patients in a coordinated way, but the information systems supporting this various programs have been separate and incompatible. Multiple systems place a greater burden on the national and provincial departments of health (in terms of support and training), and negatively affect health outcomes on a national level.

The TB/HIV information systems (THIS) project was initiated by the National Department of Health (NDoH) in January 2015 to integrate the collection of HIV and TB data in South African health facilities. This integration will facilitate better management of co-infected patients, integrate patient data into a single record for HIV, DS-TB and DR-TB, reduce the systems burden on provinces, and harmonize M&E for TB and HIV. It will also encourage and facilitate data use at the facility, provincial, and national levels.

This presentation describes efforts to promote local ownership of an integrated national information system, and to manage change among a diverse set of stakeholders. It looks beyond the technology and considers fundamental non-technical issues such as data collection processes, creating and driving adherence to standard operating procedures, implementation documentation and guidelines, building capacity to implement and maintain systems, and fostering a culture of data use.