eMIS Inception Meeting Held in Natore

National Scale up of eMIS in new districts (Natore, Moulvi Bazar, Jhenaidaha, Madaripur, Noakhali and Comilla) was formally inaugurated by Mr. Mohammad Nasim, Honorable Minister for Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) at a Launching Ceremony held on 11 October 2017 in Dhaka. The steps for implementation began in Natore through an Inception Meeting held on 23 January 2018. It was followed by a Training of Trainers (ToT) for Managers and MIS Personnel from 23 to 24 January. New districts are being added for implementation of eMIS following demonstration phase in Tangail and Habiganj that began in January 2015. eMIS has developed mobile apps for CHWs providing health and family planning services in the rural areas and service providers at the union level facilities. There are apps and web-based tools for the managers and decision-makers. Scaling up of eMIS is a part of the current sector program of MOHFW called Fourth Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Program (4^th HPNSP). In 4^th HPNSP (Jan 2017 to June 2022), there are provisions for introducing eMIS tools in 2 Divisions (Chittagong and Sylhet comprising of 15 districts) under MIS Operational Plan (OP) of DGFP. Union level facility modules would also be implemented in 2,000 Union Health and Family Welfare Centers or UHFWCs.

The Inception Meeting began with the welcome address delivered by Dr. S M Zakir Hossain, DDFP, Natore. Mr. Suman Kanti Chowdhury made a PowerPoint presentation on eMIS-FP tools. Dr. Azizul Islam, Civil Surgeon spoke about importance of digitization at the field level. Mr. Suleman Khan, Director (MIS), DGFP was present as a Special Guest. He mentioned that DGFP is committed to digitize the activities at all levels and working for realization of government’s vision of Digital Bangladesh. Md. Humayun Kabir, Senior Strategic and Technical Advisor, MEASURE Evaluation narrated how the eMIS tools have been developed. He emphasized that the leadership and guidance from top management and enthusiasm of district and upazila level managers and employees have played a crucial role in successful implementation of eMIS tools in the demonstration districts. Mr. Moloy Kumar Roy, Divisional Director, DGFP, Rajshahi chaired the Inception Meeting. In his speech, he expressed his optimism that officers and staff of Natore would whole-heartedly carry out the implementation. Officials of icddr,b were also present in the meeting.

A total of 24 local level managers and MIS personnel including Upazila Family Planning Officers, Medical Officers (MO-MCH), and Upazila Family Planning Assistant participated in the ToT session. The training was conducted by Dr. Reza Ali Rumi, Dr. Twaha Mansurun Haque, Mr. Mohammad Ahsan Ullah and Md. Mosharraf Hossain Shamim. They covered the following subjects: Population Registration System, FWA eRegister, FPI eSupervision System, UFPO eSupervision System, Web-based Monitoring Tools, Facility and CSBA eRegister. The training program included demonstrations and extensive group practices with Q&A. The closing session was earmarked for evaluation and feedback where Dr. S M Zakir Hossain, DDFP was present. The training program details can be viewed here.