FG Urges States To Improve Health Data Infrastructure

The Federal Government on Monday urged state ministries of
health and their agencies to improve the coordination and financing of health
data infrastructure in their areas.

Dr Mohammed Pate, the Minister of State for Health, made the
plea in a keynote address at the 2012 Health Data Producers and Users meeting
in Ilorin, attended by the 36 states.

Pate said the Federal Ministry of Health was taking
necessary steps to ensure that the National Health Information System (NHMIS)
was positioned to provide relevant health information for decision making and
management.

Pate said that NHMIS branch of the Federal Ministry of
Health in collaboration with the state ministries and development partners had
compiled the list of registered health facilities in the country.

The minister said that the facility code was expected to
enhance health research and data management.

Pate urged the state ministries and their agencies to be
more active in the implementation of NHMIS by ensuring that competent personnel
were deployed, trained and retrained for the job.

He lauded the efforts and contributions of development
partners, such as UN Systems, PATH 2, MAPS, TSHIP, PPRIN-IMNCH and MEASURE.