Key personnel in the government’s health management sector have undergone training in an enhanced e-tracker application.

The two-day event gave health service workers insight into the Simprint’s application with biometrics capability to kick start its implementation.

These trainees will be later sent into various departments to train more individuals on how to maximize the innovation.

It is a partnership between Simprints, Millenium Promise Alliance and the Ghana Health Service.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on November 22, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Services (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye underscored the advantages afforded the sector with the introduction of this innovation.

“I believe that this initiative in the long term will ensure unique patient records created without risk of disease transmission among health workers and patients, reliable data on the number of individuals immunized which leads to more precise coverage rates and faster intervention, avoidance of duplicate records through biometric verification, which can prevent unnecessary double dosing (wasting precious supply), and creating important time and cost savings,” he said in Accra.

He further told the trainees that “your presence here signifies your commitment to supporting the initiative which is paramount to the achievement of unique identities for our clients as we seek to address bottlenecks in the health interventions, specifically verifying delivery and patient tracking for course completion.”

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) also reiterated the need for technology to bridge the information deficit in Africa’s health sector.

According to MPA Country Director, Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko, even though Ghana has made strides in the aspect which was accelerated at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is more room for improvement.

He, therefore, sees the new technology developed by Simprints as a step further into that horizon.

He also promised his outfit’s support to integrate the development with existing health systems to make it aligned and tailor-made for the country’s health needs.

Frontline health workers spend 40% of their time on data management, according to an estimate by the policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation unit of GHS.

The GHS, therefore, as part of implementing the government’s policy on digitisation rolled out, as a pilot, the e-tracker solution for electronic surveillance of TB, HIV AIDS ART and Maternal and Child Health services (MCH) including antenatal care, postnatal care, delivery, and family planning.

Simprints is a non-profit technology company committed to transforming the way the world fights poverty.

They build technology to radically increase transparency and effectiveness in global development, making sure that every vaccine, every dollar, every public good reaches the people who need them most.

According to the Simprints’ Technical Project Manager, Jordan Silverman the technology is pivotal to addressing data challenges that impede policymaking in the health sector.

The devices to be used in the process are portable with scanners and can work offline which means hard-to-reach areas of the country will not be left out.

It will be piloted in the Eastern Region.

He said the programme will continue to be monitored to ensure a maximum rate of success.

The event saw representatives from the Health Ministry, Ghana Health Service, and Ghana Education Service among other stakeholders.