[afro-nets] A publication demonstrating measuement of health performance across districts

["Fiorenza Monticelli" <fiorenza@hst.org.za>]

A publication demonstrating measurement of health performance across districts
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Managers at all levels in the health sector need appropriate information to analyse the health situation, set relevant objectives and develop plans susceptible to monitoring. This is the second year that the HST have taken routinely collected district health data in South Africa and have repackaged it into useful information for managers and decision makers at all levels of the health system.

The report features a selection of indicators, drawn from a variety of information sources, which include: 
.	the District Health Information System (DHIS), from which around 70% of indicators are drawn,
.	the National TB register, 
.	population & socioeconomic indicators drawn from Census 2001 data 
.	financial data (health expenditure) from the National Treasury, 

These data are presented in a specific way using graphs and maps in order to provide a snapshot of the overall performance of the public health sector across the provinces and  health districts in South Africa. Some of the areas covered include: Socioeconomic indicators such as access to water, input indicators such as per capita expenditure on primary health care, process indicators  ie. bed utilisation rate, output indicators such as immunisation coverage, PMTCT indicators ie proportion of antenatal clients tested for HIV, indicators measuring outcomes such as TB cure rate and smear conversion rate and impact indicators such as stillbirth rate

The report functions firstly as a tool to monitor progress towards strategic health goals (also towards the MDGs) and to support improvement of equitable provision of primary health care by:  
-	illustrating important aspects of the health system at district level through analysis of indicators.
-	ranking, classifying and analysing health districts (in various groupings e.g. metropolitan districts, rural development districts, provinces), on the basis of these indicators.
-	comparing these indicators over time

In demonstrating the data in the abovementioned way,  poor quality data present in the DHIS is highlighted.  Managers are recommended to focus and improve on these data, so that the DHB can function more effectively as a good quality information and management tool.

The DHB supports and improves M & E and data quality within the health system and is a valuable management tool which is utilised by managers at all levels in the health sector, and those in other sectors such as the national treasury, the academic sector and policy.  The full publication is freely downloadable and is also available to download section by section from http://www.hst.org.za/publications/701 or contact the resource centre manager at sithandiwe@hst.org.za for a copy.

The District Health Barometer 2005/06.
Barron P, Day C, Monticelli F, Vermaak  K , Okorafor O,. Moodley K, Doherty T.
Published by Health Systems Trust; December 2006
ISBN 1-919839-56-9
Funded by Atlantic Philanthropies

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Fiorenza Monticelli
Health Systems Trust
Project Manager: District Health Barometer
HealthLink
Tel: +27 31 307 2954
Fax: + 27 31 304 0775
mailto:fiorenza@hst.org.za
http://www.hst.org.za