Limpho Sello
THE government will on Tuesday launch the HIV and Health Situation Room in Maseru which will enable the Ministry of Health to effectively monitor HIV and tuberculosis programmes to ensure the country wins its war against the deadly pandemics.
The HIV and Health Situation Room is a health information system that will enable the Ministry of Health to know the statistics of people tested for HIV, TB and other diseases around the country. The information system will help create a comprehensive picture and understanding of Lesotho’s epidemics.
It was developed by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNAIDS and it is supported by the government of Sweden, which contributed resources as part of its continued support to improving monitoring and evaluation of the global AIDS epidemic.
The Tuesday launch will be graced by Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe.
The Ministry of Health’s Principal Secretary Monapathi Maraka recently told the Sunday Express that the Lesotho HIV and Health Situation Room will facilitate quick feedback on diseases at the country and community levels and it will also help identify any bottlenecks and access issues.
“The Lesotho HIV and Health Situation Room aims to speed up and streamline communications between policy-makers and implementers to help Lesotho stay on track to reach its national health targets and to improve the lives of people,” Mr Maraka said.
“We are going to stop walking in the dark as the information will be availed to us at all times.
“With the new health information system, the ministry will get first-hand information about TB and HIV targets. It will help us to scrutinise whether or not we are achieving the 90/90/90 HIV targets and the TB targets.
“This more accurate programming will help to ensure that adults and children living with HIV have regular access to care and treatment and that antiretroviral medicines are replenished quickly should stock-outs occur.”
He said the new system will also enable them to quickly decide which districts should be prioritised for treatment and other interventions.
Mr Maraka said the government and UNAIDS collaborated to bring two different data sets into one tool, that is, the data from the District Health Information System (DHIS2) and Lesotho’s HIV Estimates.
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