Technologies for Health Registers, Information, & Vital Events (THRIVE)

Challenge

61% of Pakistan’s rural population relies on Frontline Health Workers (FHWs) for primary health care. These Frontline Health Workers (FHWs) are responsible for collecting data, managing  stocks and providing basic health services to millions of people.

Despite serving a majority of Pakistan’s population, FHWs are still  dependent on archaic, paper-based data collection methods which takes valuable time away from service provision, often resulting in the duplication of information across multiple registers, requiring manual tabulation of the data for summary reporting. Paper registers thus present strategic challenges for reporting and limit access to real-time data for decision-making, for monitoring FHW performance, and for ensuring accountability across services.

There is a need  for an integrated digital platform which connects FWHs to national health systems in order to strengthen accountability, generate real time data, improve health service delivery and ensure effective  monitoring and evaluation.

Our Approach

In close collaboration with the Government of Sindh Province, Interactive Research and Development (IRD) aims to empower FHWs and their supervisors using OpenSRP, a comprehensive tablet-based, mobile health platform that allows FHWs to register and track the health of their entire client population.

Open Smart Register Platform (OpenSRP) is an integrated platform that allows FHW to collect and report data holistically throughout the Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Health (RMNCH) continuum. Now, a FHW can access a child’s vaccination schedule,  antenatal care status and much more information on a single electronic platform, allowing for greatly improved care and services.  OpenSRP platform strengthens the ability of  FHWs to effectively deliver essential health interventions and ensures continuity and appropriate care throughout an individual’s life. It provides real-time, web-based data that allows for effective resource allocation and reporting, providing invaluable insight that will allow the creation of policies better suited to patients’ needs.

Impact

IRD is leading the site-specific implementation of OpenSRP in Pakistan, with technical support from Interactive Health Solutions (IHS) for software development, and Ona for the overall technology and design coordination. With technical expertise from IHS, IRD has adapted OpenSRP to the needs of the vaccinators and Lady Health Workers in Pakistan, with a pilot deployment ongoing in a limited setting in Landhi Town, Karachi. To date, over 15,000 children and 2500 women have been enrolled in this platform by government employed vaccinators and Lady Health workers across our project site.