Imoro Alhassan Baalayel is a passionate and dedicated public health professional based in Tema, Ghana. He holds a Bachelor of Public Health (Health Information) from the Fred Newton Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho. With nearly three years of experience in community development and health-related initiatives, he has contributed actively to healthcare delivery and public health promotion, especially through his work at the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate and during internships at Anyirawase CHPS Compound. Imoro has served in various leadership and volunteer roles, including Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Red Cross Society at UHAS, and President of the Ghana Muslim Students Association at the Fred Newton Binka School of Public Health. His professional journey reflects a strong commitment to improving health systems and promoting community wellbeing through effective data management, health education, and field-level engagement.
Community Health and Development, Disease Surveillance and Response, Data Collection, Analysis, and Visualization for Health Interventions
Maternal and child health data quality in the Volta Regional Hospital and Chereponi Government Hospital.
The objective of this study is to assess the quality of maternal and child health (MCH) data at Volta Regional Hospital and Chereponi Government Hospital. Reliability of reported health data in Sub-Saharan Africa is frequently undermined by issues like data completeness, discrepancies, and consistency in health management information systems (HMIS). Reliability of health data is crucial for monitoring health services, especially in maternal and child healthcare, where data inaccuracies can have serious implications for healthcare planning and outcomes.
The research evaluates the quality of maternal and child health data, focussing on three dimensions: completeness, discrepancies, and consistency. Verification factors (VFs) are calculated to assess data accuracy, with a specific focus on discrepancies in data transfer between registers and DHIS2. The study also assesses the consistency of key maternal health indicators, such as antenatal care visits (ANC1, ANC4), immunisation (Penta1, Penta3), and postnatal care. The study uses a facility-based analytical cross-sectional design with quantitative methods, analysing data from both hospitals over a five-year period (2019–2023).
The results show that the two facilities' levels of data completeness varied, with Volta Regional Hospital exhibiting higher levels than Chereponi Government Hospital. Discrepancies in reported data were more noticeable in Volta Regional Hospital, probably as a result of higher patient loads. Both hospitals' levels of data consistency over time and between related variables was found to be moderate, with specific areas for improvement being ANC data. These findings underscore the necessity of more stringent data management procedures and ongoing staff training to guarantee data reliability.
The study concludes that better maternal and child health data quality is essential for efficient health service delivery and policy development in Ghana. The findings offer useful information for policymakers and healthcare administrators to improve the quality of health data for maternal and child healthcare in the area.