Innovative Approaches to Improving Community-Level Health Outcomes in Uganda

The dashboard and scorecard are interactive and contain a breakdown of national community reporting rates at all levels, including thematic areas such as ICCM, WASH, Nutrition, and stock status. The Community Health Dashboard and Community Scorecard were created in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Uganda Health Systems Strengthening (UHSS) Activity. The dashboard and scorecard are open access and can be queried at national and sub-national levels. They provide a synopsis of key results, including an increase in national reporting rates from 35% in October-December 2021 to 71% in April-June 2022. The Community Health Dashboard and Community Scorecard have been used by the MoH to present a case for critical services at the community level, triggering discussions for performance improvement and advocacy for more resources. The health sector has seen an increase in strengthening community health systems, enshrined in the Community Health Strategy for the country. The dashboard and scorecard have also revealed significant improvements in community-level reporting. For example, the proportion of sick children 2-5 months who received ACT from the community increased from 7% in the January-March 2022 period to 75% in April-June 2022 in one malaria-endemic region. The institutionalization of the Community Health Dashboard into the national reporting system (DHIS2) has strengthened and increased visibility of community-level reporting. The Community Health Dashboard and Community Scorecard have been well-received by countries, with three projects requesting support in developing similar dashboards and scorecards for their countries. Key takeaways from the pitch presentation included the need for countries to improve community data reporting and utilization, and the importance of having a dashboard and scorecard to inform decision-making at different levels of the health system.