Community health - Supporting district resource centres in Tanzania
Overview
Healthlink Worldwide has been working in partnership with the Centre for Educational Development in Health (CEDHA).
Resource centres play an essential role in supporting and training health workers at district level in Tanzania, particularly in rural areas where it is difficult to find health information.
The resource centres are based in district hospitals and health centres. Nurses, midwives and clinical officers use the centres to access up-to-date and relevant information, and to take part in training sessions and meetings. This helps them with their daily work in the local communities, and also with planning and management.
Malaria is the biggest killer in Tanzania. Other health priorities are mother and child health, HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and typhoid. The availability of accurate, up-to-date information about these issues is essential for the development of effective management and treatment programmes.
The expertise that Healthlink Worldwide has contributed to this project is available to others through the Resource Centre Manual and the Healthlink Worldwide's Classification Scheme,which is used in the Source International Support Centres online databases (comprising bibliographic, organisation, and journals and newsletter information resources).
Healthlink Worldwide has also supported CEDHA in the development of locally appropriate health information resources on HIV and AIDS, assessing the quality of health services, gender-based violence and sexual health.
As a result of a recent evaluation of the project, five of the centres aim to become digital resource centres, which will enable health workers to use a wider range of information and communication technologies (ICTs). By having access to video, radio, the internet and CD-ROMs, as well as printed publications, health workers will be able to develop their skills and choose the best way to use information to improve and save the lives of the people in their district.