As part of joint activities to prevent and control infectious diseases, the World Health Organization Country Office and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Turkmenistan have completed another step in establishing an electronic monitoring system for patients with viral hepatitis. In early 2021, the two organizations assisted specialists from the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan (MoH) in training health workers on the use of the electronic system, including both data entry and analysis.
The control and prevention of viral hepatitis in Turkmenistan is one of the major priorities for the country's health system; to achieve the strategic goal of eliminating hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030, more modern and effective approaches, and comprehensive measures must be implemented. Reducing the burden of viral hepatitis requires developing a strong strategic information system to understand viral hepatitis epidemics and focus public health responses. In Turkmenistan and many other countries, this means developing and deploying an electronic system for monitoring data related to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of parenteral viral hepatitis.
Development of the electronic monitoring system for patients with viral hepatitis began in Turkmenistan in 2019 with the support of WHO, along with USAID and its implementing partner the QED Group. It allows health care workers and public health professionals to digitally record each case of viral hepatitis along with supporting epidemiological and clinical information. Collecting and monitoring these data is a critical step to analyzing population-level epidemiological data in order to monitor trends, mobilize effective resources to communities with the most need, and monitor the effectiveness and impact of both individual treatment regimens as well as broader public health control efforts.
The server hosting electronic system, which will be accessible to authorized users in the health care facilities treating patients with hepatitis, ensuring personal data protection and security, was installed at the Center for Public Health and Nutrition and successfully tested by specialists of eleven healthcare institutions in Ashgabat as well as regional infectious disease hospitals across the country. The MoH, with the support of WHO, organized several technical consultations and trainings for the specialists of these institutions to help them effectively use the data at the local, regional, and national levels, to make evidence-informed management decisions.
Within the framework of the joint cooperation, the partners will continue supporting the MoH to improve and further rollout the electronic system, in order to achieve the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis B and C in Turkmenistan as outlined in the National Strategic Plan to Strengthen Viral Hepatitis Control Measures in 2019–2030. This strategic plan is based on the goals and objectives set out in the WHO documents – the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis 2016-2021 and the Action plan for the health sector response to viral hepatitis in the WHO European Region.
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USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. For more information, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional and USAID’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia.
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