Un-locking COVID-19. A process of locking-down societies and putting locks away for the information.
In a world of social inequalities, economic disparities and cultural diversity, COVID-19 is the key reason that made us talk about data as it would be a universal language. The current world is interconnected, and every government use data to speak and act among the international community. This is the world where the decisions must be based on evidence. The current dialogues are around the number of diagnosed cases or fatalities, and the cost of the strategies for people and economies. Unfortunately, in this interconnected and data-driven world, many low-income countries are struggling to diagnose and follow-up on COVID-19 cases effectively, due to the lack of sustainable and effective health information systems.
Shifo is one of the actors that is working to develop and implement sustainable and effective health information systems, to strengthen immunisation, maternal health, primary healthcare services and supply chain, in order to transform the voice of communities into data, proving that bringing data visibility from the last mile is possible, despite low technological availability.
In a few months, a single virus has transformed the way how we perceive the information systems around the world. For years, many organizations, like Shifo, have joined the challenge to strengthen the health information systems to achieve the targets set for Sustainable Development Goals, and COVID-19 is proving that strengthening health information systems is an urgent and important priority. COVID-19 demonstrated that every human being has the same risk to be infected, despite nationality, age, income, religion or education. As a result, one of the most popular strategies has been social distancing using lock-down strategies. Nevertheless, as we believe in Shifo, every strategy must be adapted to the local conditions. Being part of a low-income country means more than a lack of economic resources. Some low-income countries have adopted the same strategies of social isolation and curfew but the local circumstances of overcrowding and informal economy, as well as the lack of sanitation, makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to implement rigid lock-down strategies and following up on those strategies.
High-income countries use the data to test their strategies and control how to flatten the curve in the most effective way. However, low-income countries are limited in the testing and monitoring systems. The lack of numerous cases in low-income countries is not necessarily a representation of effective actions. In Shifo, we understand that the main goal of the information systems is to bring high-quality data and transform it into improvement actions. For this reason, our task during this pandemic is to help bring data visibility from the last mile health facilities, using Smart Paper Technology.
The lack of access to technology should not be a limitation to communicate in the global community. The low-income countries require support from the international community.
Shifo connects low-income and rural areas using hybrid (paper to digital) solutions that do not require electricity or Internet to operate at the facility level. We innovate the way how front-line health workers get access to data and how to simplify getting the data, as part of the Smart Paper Technology solution. Shifo provides information systems that strengthen health information systems in low-income countries.
Covid19 is demonstrating the need to strengthen health information systems around the world, especially in low-income countries, to help make better decisions, based on the evidence. And Shifo is working to ensure low-income countries have sustainable and effective health information systems, that generate complete, timely, accurate and fit-for-purpose data, insights and evidence, to support better decision-making. The data has the power to communicate, predict and decide the future of many people. Let us work together to transform this power into a super-power.
Autor: Stefany Guarnizo. Editor: Rustam Nabiev
