Leveraging Champions to Enhance Digital Logistics Management in Zambia
This story was first published by our affiliate, John Snow Health.
“It is easy to underestimate the importance of data when managing supplies.” says Thelma Lwimba, a nurse at the Masala Main Health Center in Ndola District, Copperbelt Province of Zambia, says, “How busy we get, patient care always takes precedence.”
Under JSI’s USAID- and PEPFAR-funded Electronic Supply Chain Management Information System (eSCMIS) project, Masala Main Health Center moved from a paper-based system to an electronic logistics management system (eLMIS). eHealth systems generate highly accurate and real-time data, and, when used in supply chain management, can reduce wastage and costs while decreasing commodity stockouts. These systems, however, are very much dependent on their users. All users, from health program managers to pharmacists and nurses, need knowledge and abilities to run the system at all levels to ensure they work effectively.
The USAID eSCMIS project has prioritized eLMIS orientation, particularly among national partners, to ensure sustainability. This includes bringing Ministry of Health (MOH) staff to clinics for trainings and peer-to-peer approaches wherein “champion” users act as mentors .
The MOH often calls upon champion user Frank Chisulo of Nakonde District in Muchinga to transition other health facilities to and train staff on eLMIS. “In 2017 while I was in school upgrading my qualifications, the district hospital where I work began eLMIS implementation,” recalls Frank. “I’d long advocated for an electronic system to manage commodities, so this was very exciting. But it wasn’t until I graduated in September 2019 that I learned how to use the eLMIS.”
Frank took a keen interest in the system and even worked outside his own domain — the laboratory — to learn it. “I found myself doing transactions on the system on a daily basis, and before long, I was training staff at my facility on features they were unfamiliar with.”
In addition to relying on MOH champions to strengthen eLMIS capacity, USAID eSCMIS developed a national WhatsApp help desk group, which has become a resource for informal training among colleagues. This group spawned like-groups comprising an average of 350 MOH and USAID eSCMIS staff in each of Zambia’s 10 provinces.
Almost all the eLMIS users in Muchinga province use its WhatsApp group. “It is basically a community, and we all help each other,” says Frank. “When I can respond to questions, I do. Abraham Banda, [ project lead for Muchinga] noticed and asked me to accompany him on deployments in the district so I could transfer knowledge.”
Frank has since assisted with 12 deployments, nine system migrations, and on-the-job training of more than 25 eLMIS users. Frank says. “I enjoy seeing the WhatsApp group’s community grow and colleagues take a greater interest in the system. I’ve trained two people in my district alone who are now assisting other facilities, when they can, as champion users. I even bring them with me when I do physical support visits, just as Mr. Banda did for me, so they can gain practical experience.”
Since its inception, the project has trained more than 4,000 MOH eLMIS users. As the groups have evolved and local staff take the lead in eLMIS management, the project has taken on a more supportive role. The project anticipates that by the end of 2024, MOH staff members, supported by champions like Frank, will manage the system themselves.
By Abinaidah Chaseba
