New Project in Ethiopia to Expand Digital Community Health Tool

JSI recently launched its newest five-year project, Ethiopia eCHIS Scale-Up for Health Extension Program (HEP) Performance Improvement. Funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the initiative will be implemented in partnership with Dimagi and Living Goods. The project consortium will closely collaborate with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to scale up the electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS) to 160 woredas in five regions (Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region, Sidama; and Tigray).

The project launch took place in a hybrid virtual and in-person event in Addis Ababa attended by Dr. Dereje Duguma, State Minister of Health; Anna Hakobyan, Chief Impact Officer of CIFF; MOH Directorate Heads and other MOH staff; and representatives from donors and development partners.

Scaling eCHIS is a priority initiative of the MOH Information Revolution, a strategy to implement technology and data solutions to improve service delivery starting at the community level. eCHIS is a digital job aid and health data reporting system that will help improve performance management for HEWs, leading to increased use of data for decision making and improved care for better health outcomes.

To ensure evidence-based scale-up, the project consortium will establish 10 regional learning sites to design, test, and validate new performance management models and other innovative solutions. By leveraging the power of digital tools to strengthen reporting and job performance, the project will contribute to optimizing Ethiopia’s flagship Health Extension Program to continue providing quality primary health care services.