Description of Session
The impact of absenteeism on health system operations cannot be overstated. Beyond the objective waste of scarce government resources on paying health workers who do not show up at their assigned duty stations, the psychological impact of absenteeism is far-reaching and insidious. Otherwise hard-working and contentious health workers are demoralized by absent co-workers and citizenry lose respect for health systems when assigned workers are not present to provide care. That’s why the nationwide focus on reducing absenteeism in the Ugandan health sector is so revolutionary. Started by President Museveni, and enforced by Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, himself a physician, the effort is now a national priority. Yet, how can such a lofty goal - every health worker at their assigned duty post every day - become a reality in a developing country like Uganda? In this session, we’ll learn how IntraHealth International is working with the Ugandan MoH, DFID and USAID to develop the digital tools to support the efficient assignment and tracking of every health worker - from MoH staff in Kampala, to Level 2 clinic health workers in rural Iganga. The process includes everything from paper worksheets to develop monthly duty rosters, to biometric devices to track attendance, to monthly reports at the district level on who is present (or not), to national statistics the public can access that show absenteeism rates for every duty station in every district - an unprecedented level of transparency that is changing the national debate around health worker effectiveness. For example: Staffing levels increased from 53% to 77% between 2009 and 2018. Absenteeism reduced from 69% to 12.5% in 2019 7,200 health workers were recruited in 2012 based on staffing gap evidence from iHRIS.
