PESHAWAR, Feb 24: A UN field mission has expressed dissatisfaction over the UNHCR's health information system in Pakistan, terming data compiled by it completely irrelevant and saying it does not help in making health management decisions, or programme reorientation.
This was stated in a report compiled by a three-member UN mission that visited refugee camps in the NWFP and Balochistan in December 2003. It said that the health information system, which was established five years ago, was unable to provide useful data on health matters, as it did not "provide a comparative summary or analysis," said the 65-page report.
Afghan refugee camp populations "are quite fluid and most of the camps keep track of their populations by a combination of" reporting community health workers and the UNHCR.
However, there are difficulties in getting correct figures regarding the population because of the refugee movement, especially in the older camps, where men frequently visit Afghanistan, sometimes as often as twice a month and many others regularly leave the camp in search of work.
It is quite common for a refugee family to have some family members in a camp, some in Afghanistan while other members living in urban areas in Pakistan, the report says.
The report said data was collected from community health workers, their supervisors, basic health unit registers, record cards and monthly reports. Information on births and deaths is collected by community health workers, of whom males have minimal education, while their women counterparts usually have no education at all.
Data on malaria and leishmaniasis is collected by 'Health Net International' from passive case detection at 115 basic health units and 62 field laboratories, which is then sent directly to the Islamabad-based health information system's coordinating unit.
Data on tuberculosis is collected by the Association for Community Development, whose activity is supported by 100 detection and treatment clinics and 47 field laboratories.
Data collected in this regard is then sent from basic health units to provincial health information system offices. The report observed that no data appeared in the health information system's report submitted in October 2003.
The report says that there are five stock and 15 demographic and mortality/morbidity registers to be filled out almost on a daily basis. Additionally, there are 17 complex monthly and three quarterly reporting forms to be filled out.
