Strengthening Utilization of the Kenyan Hiv and Health Situation Room at the County Level

Abstract

In 2015, the Kenya HIV and Health Situation Room, was launched with the help of the Joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The Kenya HIV and Health Situation Room is an electronic decision support tool that was developed to integrate data from health programs at the national and county level. The tool synthesizes and presents data visually; giving data users a better understanding of data use therefore helping them make better informed data decisions. The tool also provides data users with access to different data sets from various data sources. The tool has already been implemented in 11 national governmental offices and all 47 counties. 30 national and 94 county level staff have already been trained. This tool was to be used at national and county levels in the country to inform critical decisions in HIV programming. However, following feedback by the NACC regional data officers, the HIV Situation Room was hardly used at the county level. The project aim was to strengthen the use of the Kenya HIV and Health Situation Room at the county level. A situational analysis was conducted to determine why the Kenyan HIV and Health Situation Room was not being utilized at the county level. From the assessment study, an intervention was selected and implemented to help the CHMT members use the tool. The activities conducted were: sensitization of the CHMT members through engagement, awareness raising and a video with key messages in it. There was positive feedback on the impact of the sensitization activities that were done. The outcomes of the project were: 30 CHMT members sensitized about the HIV and Health Situation Room; 30 CHMT members using the HIV and Health Situation Room and sensitized CHMT members using the sensitization video in their forums and meetings to sensitize other staff about the HIV and Health Situation Room. The implementation plan was done according to the project objectives, work plan and budget.