By Kemi Olatunde

In an attempt to establish a unified framework for data collection, management, and reporting processes to increase efficiency in the reporting of Non-Communicable Diseases in Ondo State, the state Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation (OSELF), has organised a one-day integration meeting with some heads of facilities and Health Management Information Officers.

The meeting, which aimed at facilitating integration through the development of strategies for integrating data from various sources, was held in Akure yesterday.

The representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, and Director of Public Health, Dr Stephen Fagbemi, noted that the state faced challenges with the data parameters of NCDs, adding that without data, the state lacks the documentation needed to attract partners to assist it.

Speaking on the reason for the meeting, Fagbemi said, “We need to come together to compile the data; we need to know the burden, the prevalence in our LGAs, the distribution, and the peculiar challenges. And when we have data, we can reach out to partners to come and assist us.”

He explained that in compiling the data, there must be efficiency to ensure that data is not lost, so as to make informed decisions for the people of the state.

Fagbemi decried the reluctance of some government and private health facilities to share their data, describing it as a breach of the law.

“When we register a hospital, it is assumed that all the data coming from the hospital belongs to the government so that we can provide the right information to the government for informed decisions. There should not be any reluctance to share data.”

He urged the participants to work with the HMIS officers in their various facilities, adding that they should insist on seeing the data recorded for them.

Fagbemi lamented the unauthorised use of hospital data for publication without any ethical approval, stating that there are ethical rules guiding the use of hospital data.

In her goodwill message, the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, Ondo State Hospitals’ Management Board (HMB), Dr Aderonke Fagbemi, said data for Non-Communicable Diseases is important, lamenting the margin in the data provided for the diseases in the state.

The representative of the World Health Organization, Mr Adewale Moses, said the burden of NCDs is fast overtaking that of infectious diseases in the country, describing the availability of data as the only way to seek help.

While reviewing the existing data sources of NCDs and the data harmonisation goal, the programme manager, Mrs Pelumi Ayeni, noted that the exercise would enhance data accessibility for decision-making while also aiding them in their job delivery.