Afghan Health: Monitoring and Evaluation

Project

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health requested a third party monitoring & evaluation of its national health services. It was assigned to KIT Royal Tropical Institute by means of a health facility functionality assessment, drug quality assessment, health management information system verification, household surveys and results-based financing assessment.

As of 2003, Afghanistan established a novel nation-wide public-private model for health service delivery, gradually brought under a single umbrella, the SEHAT programme. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are contracted by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to deliver a standard package of health services (BPHS and EPHS), as defined by the MoPH. Participating NGOs are selected through competitive bidding to deliver services in a specific geographical area.

Enhancing evidence-based and participatory strategic planning

The MoPH is committed to enhancing evidence-based and participatory strategic planning at all levels within the national health system. In order to ensure that optimal quality and access to services is provided by the NGOs, the Afghan MoPH, with financial support from the World Bank and other international donors, has contracted KIT to provide independent third-party monitoring and evaluation of the national health services during January 2015 to December 2018.

Third party evaluator

From 2015, KIT Royal Tropical Institute has taken on the role of third party evaluator for SEHAT and has since conducted four health facility assessments (BPHS/EHPS) (including two drug-quality assessments), one impact evaluation of the results-based financing (RBF) scheme, eight rounds of verification and functionality assessments of the Health Management Information System (HMIS) including Drop-in Centers (DICs), and has conducted two nationwide Health Surveys on household level.

Data collection

KIT Royal Tropical Institute was responsible for data collection in all 34 provinces, in health facilities and households, often in very challenging conditions. Data collection teams were composed of males and females, so to be able to conduct interviews with female health workers or women in the households. Furthermore, for each province, local staff was recruited to minimalize cultural and language barriers.  KIT provided technical expertise in methodology development, data management, data analysis. Technical teams were supported by specialists for GIS spatial data, demography, health financing, epidemiology, and more. To ensure the quality of the studies, field staff was extensively trained and re-trained. In all implementation steps, quality assurance systems were put in place. Results were presented as in the below reports

For more information about the project, please contact Elisabeth Kleipool: e.kleipool@kit.nl