Description of Session
The West Africa Health Informatics Team (WAHIT), based at the West African Health Organization (WAHO), is a team of software developers and experts in health information systems (HIS) that provides on-demand technical assistance to countries while building local capacity in the region. Originally founded in the wake of the Ebola outbreak, WAHIT has proven to be pivotal in strengthening health information capacity at national and regional levels for both routine health information needs and disease surveillance. In the two years of their work, WAHIT’s activities have ranged from training on server management at a country level to consolidation of weekly IDSR data at a regional level to internal software development for WAHO. WAHIT has made an impression on local HIS stakeholders in West Africa. Their feedback has illustrated this support, both through regional HIS meetings and through an external evaluation. Their support of this initiative, along with the support from WAHO, has transformed this “moonshot” idea into an institutionalized team within WAHO. Originally a USAID-funded and managed activity, WAHO has committed to fully incorporating the team into its permanent organizational structure. The journey to institutionalization was not easy. There were many proposed models, many adaptations, negotiations, changes, and a highly involved management approach along the way. In this session, come to hear from USAID about those models, what worked and what didn’t, key decision points, and how, ultimately WAHO committed to sustaining this team.
