DUP
Posted on: November 29th, 2022DUP Overview
Data Use Partnership Initiative
The Data Use Partnership (DUP) is a government-led initiative that is improving the national health care system through better use of health information. Under DUP, the government is working with PATH to strengthen digital health and build local capacity so that everyone—from government officials to health workers to patients—can have better access to data and make more informed decisions, leading to a healthier Tanzania. The DUP initiative is laying the foundation for digital transformation by launching new digital health systems, establishing governance bodies, and introducing policy reform. More of Data Use Partnership Initiative journey and its impact on digital health
- Building for Tanzania’s digital future
The DUP initiative is working at every level of the health system to unlock better health care for Tanzanians. In early 2016, the government of Tanzania, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH, conducted a thorough landscape and gap analysis to identify the greatest opportunities to address key challenges impeding health system performance. Through this landscape and gap analysis, the government produced a Digital Health Investment Roadmap, which was updated in 2021 and consists of 17 strategic investment recommendations for using data to improve health services and outcomes. The DUP initiative is a direct response to this roadmap, working across four main areas to achieve digital transformation.
- Strengthening digital governance and policy
An effective digital health system requires the collection, processing, and interpretation of vast amounts of complex data. Tanzania is designing and implementing new ways to manage and govern coordination, development, deployment, and institutionalization of digital health initiatives, systems, and large volumes of health data. Under the DUP initiative, the government is developing a series of policies, guidelines, and strategies to determine who can take what action, upon what data, in what situations, and using what methods.
- Building health worker capacity for the future
The DUP initiative is also equipping Tanzania’s health sector with skills for the country’s changing digital landscape. This includes training existing and future generations of health workers to make better use of digital platforms and data, updating curricula, developing digital and data use toolkits, and employing eLearning platforms to reach the most remote individuals. Under DUP, the government of Tanzania developed the Capacity Building Consortium, composed of universities, health research and training institutes, and zonal health training centers to foster a culture of data use.
- Digitalizing primary health care
The government of Tanzania, through DUP, is working to digitalize primary health care so that when a child visits a clinic, the health worker can electronically access their complete health history to learn what services are needed. After the visit, the health worker can easily determine when the child needs to return for a follow-up, and the digital system will issue an alert if the patient misses that appointment. Digitalizing primary health care involves a suite of user-friendly software designed to support a range of health sector processes, from provision of health services, to monitoring health facility performance and tracking commodities and health worker credentials.
- Coordinating the digital health ecosystem and investments
DUP is working to ensure that Tanzania’s more than 160+ digital health systems are connected and interoperable. Under DUP, the government has established a Centre for Digital Health to oversee new digital initiatives and created new systems to better coordinate the systems and health policies in place.