The Haiti Strategic Health Information System (HIS) project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed to improve and strengthen Haiti’s comprehensive health information system, Le Système d’Information Sanitaire Nationale Unique (SISNU). The project, led by DAI Global, LLC, supported the Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (MSPP) in building its capacity to collect, analyze, and use health data for evidence-based decision-making.
During Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, the project made significant progress in enhancing and upgrading SISNU, including the implementation of the electronic community health information system (CHIS) module tracker. This system enabled community health workers (CHWs) to enroll patients and track their care and treatment at the community level. By the end of the reporting period, the CHWs had served and tracked 4,838 patients, including 1,574 children under five years old.
The project also expanded its support to private hospitals and clinics, enabling 135 private, for-profit institutions to collect and track data on HIV patients using the SISNU platform. Additionally, the project advocated for more complete reporting on HIV care and treatment through SISNU and worked to report on more indicators for HIV care and treatment.
Several initiatives centered on improving data quality, including the development of a set of data quality and programmatic indicators to build a culture of data quality and use among system users. The SISNU dashboard will analyze program performance and data use across health departments, helping system users develop an understanding and track data quality issues.
The project also continued to develop improvements to the Carte Sanitaire, a geographic information system (GIS) web application complementary to the SISNU system. Carte Sanitaire provides key information on a given health facility, such as its GPS location, available health services, and contact information. With its implementation, MSPP can now identify and respond to public health issues quickly before they become a crisis.
In the policy area, the project conducted an environmental and situational analysis to inform the development of a digital health policy for Haiti. The analysis identified key challenges and opportunities for the adoption and use of digital health technologies in Haiti.
The project’s achievements in FY 2020 were notable, despite the destabilizing political turmoil in the country and the COVID-19 pandemic. The project’s continued support to the MSPP and its efforts to improve data quality and use will be crucial in strengthening Haiti’s health information system and improving health outcomes in the country.
The project’s success in implementing the TB tracker, which has led to a significant increase in reported TB cases, is also noteworthy. The project’s expansion of support to private hospitals and clinics and its advocacy for more complete reporting on HIV care and treatment through SISNU are also significant achievements.
Overall, the Haiti HIS project has made significant progress in improving and strengthening Haiti’s comprehensive health information system, and its continued support to the MSPP will be crucial in achieving the project’s objectives.