Authors:
Frank Verbeke
1
;
Marc Nyssen
2
;
Sandrine Kaze
3
and
Etienne Mugisho
4
Affiliations:
1
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
;
2
Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
;
3
Burundi Health Informatics Association, Burundi
;
4
Belgian Technical Cooperation, Burundi
Keyword(s):
e-Health enterprise architecture, TOGAF, Health information systems, Burundi
Abstract:
In order to better align existing and future ICT implementations in the health domain with the strategic options
defined by the National Plan for Health Development, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Burundi initiated in
2014 the development of a national e-health enterprise architecture based on the TOGAF methodology. A
first part of the development cycle consisted of a detailed analysis of regulatory documents and strategic plans
related to the Burundian health system. In a second part, semi-structured interviews were organized with a
representative sample of relevant MoH health structures. The study demonstrated the donor driven unequal
distribution of hardware equipment over health administration components and health facilities. Internet
connectivity remains problematic and few health oriented business applications found their way to the
Burundian health system. Paper based instruments remain predominant in Burundi’s health administration.
The study also identified a series of pro
blems introduced by the uncoordinated development of health ICT in
Burundi such as the lack of standardization, data security risks, varying data quality, inadequate ICT
infrastructures, an unregulated e-health sector and insufficient human capacity. The results confirm the
challenging situation of the Burundian health information system but they also expose a number of bright
spots that provide hope for the future: a political will to reclaim MoH leadership in the health information
management domain, the readiness to develop e-health education and training programs and the opportunity
to capitalize the experiences with DHIS2 deployment, results based financing monitoring and hospital
information management systems implementation.
(More)