Aggregate reporting in DHIMS for HIV has been ongoing since 2006. To collect, manage and analyze transactional case based records at the community level for HIV, health personnel use the antiretroviral therapy (ART) tracker to track individual patients through testing and treatment and to track defaulters and follow up. Introduction of the HIV/ART eTracker has not affected the system and reporting flow for aggregate HIV reporting.
In ensuring data quality, accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the data has always been a challenge. Additionally, primary data collection tools at the health facilities are not available to the district, regions and national level. There is also great difficulty in using paper based system for tracking and default tracing of clients. Data collation from registers sometimes leads to errors and affects data quality. Thus it become necessary to develop client based individual HIV Tracker.
When routine health service data is visible, easily available and accessible on a common platform for all managers, there are constructive critiques on what the typical trends of specific indicators should look like versus what anomalies are being recorded to prompt further inquiry. This leads to continuous discussions on; How to improve upon reporting rates, data completeness, accuracy and internal consistencies of the routine health service data. Helps to draw the true pattern of service utilization against the knowledge of the interventions that are being put into the health care service delivery system across the various districtsÂ