Abstract:
Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution brought opportunities and challenges to developing countries in
their efforts to strengthen the Health Management Information Systems (HMIS). In the wake of globalisation, developing
countries have no choice but to take advantage of the opportunities and face the challenges. The last decades saw developing
countries taking action to strengthen and modernise their HMIS using the existing ICT. Due to poor economic and communication
infrastructure, the process has been limited to national and provincial / region levels leaving behind majority of health workers
living in remote / rural areas. Even those with access do not get maximum benefit from ICT advancements due to inadequacies
in data quality and lack of data utilisation. Therefore, developing countries need to make deliberate efforts to address constraints
threatening to increase technology gap between urban minority and rural majority by setting up favourable policies and appropriate
strategies. Concurrently, strategies to improve data quality and utilisation should be instituted to ensure that HMIS has positive
impact on people’s health. Potential strength from private sector and opportunities for sharing experiences among developing
countries should be utilised. Short of this, advancement in ICT will continue to marginalise health workers in developing
countries especially those living in remote areas.
