Capturing Family Planning Community Service Data into National Health Management Information Systems: A Five-Country Review of Tools for Community Health Workers and Pharmacies and Drug Shops

Background Inclusion of data on services provided by community health workers (CHWs) and pharmacies and drug shops (PDS) in national health management information systems (HMIS) is important for planning and decision-making related to these family planning high impact practices (HIPs) and to family planning programming more broadly. Yet little is known on the extent to which information on CHW and PDS family planning activities effectively feeds into HMIS. Methods We conducted a review of HMIS tools in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda to examine availability of family planning data elements on CHWs and PDS. Participatory discussions held as part of a subsequent webinar generated considerations for advancing measurement of these two HIPs through national HMIS. Results CHW registers and reporting forms include data elements on method provision and referrals in four of the five countries, but only include data elements on counseling in one country. Data flows vary substantially across countries. There is very limited integration of PDS data into the HMIS. Participatory discussions coalesced around a recommendation to capture information on CHW method provision and for leaving additional indicators on counseling and referrals at the discretion of countries. For PDS, discussions centered on challenges and experiences with enabling private sector reporting. Conclusion The review and discussions highlight the value and complexities of integrating data on community sources into the HMIS and the need for context-specific solutions. Interest and opportunities exist to align CHW indicators across settings. For PDS, more discussion on how to incentivize reporting and on feasible reporting platforms and processes is needed.