US funded initiative to strengthen Namibia’s electronic health data systems
The Ministry of Health and Social Services, in partnership with US government hired 67 data clerks for a one-month period during the month of September to strengthen Namibia’s electronic health data systems, allowing doctors and nurses to have the most current information of HIV patients, regardless of the facility they visit.
The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, with funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has spearheaded the process, with local recruitment agency Potentia Namibia Recruitment providing the technical expertise for the recruitment of these personnel.
In addition, some data clerks will be assigned to enter COVID-19 patient information from paper forms into a new electronic data system. These activities will also increase the flow of information for monitoring at national level, which will help understand these epidemics, and improve planning and resource allocation.
“We are pleased that our support for human resources for health has a secondary benefit on the economy. Globally, these are difficult economic times, and whenever we have new jobs created, whether they are short or long term, they are a boost to our economies,” said US Ambassador to Namibia, Lisa Johnson.
Every year, CDC Namibia, with funding from PEPFAR, supports over 450 healthcare positions in the Ministry of Health and Social Services. These positions include doctors, nurses, mentors, pharmacists, pharmacist assistants, and data clerks.
